What we learned from WWE live from Tokyo: The Beast in the East

Very early in the morning (for American viewers) on July 4th, WWE aired its first-ever live from Tokyo special on the WWE Network, featuring an NXT title match and Brock Lesnar’s first match since WrestleMania. The event, initially booked as a house show in the middle of WWE’s tour of Japan, turned into something quite special.

Maybe it was a byproduct of waking up so early, but the entire show was surreal in a strange, wonderful way. Ryogoku Sumo Hall, very familiar to wrestling fans who have been watching Japanese wrestling for many years, was an extremely fresh backdrop for the well-known WWE Superstars and the WWE in-ring style. Commentators Michael Cole and Byron Saxton were on point throughout, name-dropping Japanese federations like FMW and Dragon Gate.

The overall experience was a breath of fresh air to those weary of the normal WWE product and was reinvigorating even for WWE diehards. WWE didn’t air the entirety of the show, but the two hours we got was definitely worth setting an alarm for.

The show opened up with two men who both made their name (to certain extents) in Japan. Chris Jericho has, of late, become a WWE house show ringer, spending what could be his wrestling victory lap by mixing it up with the roster’s immense wealth of young talent. After a terrific 20-minute match, Jericho got his knees up on the Red Arrow and sank in an old-school Liontamer for the win.

What we learned: The Red Arrow is still intact! Neville didn’t hit it clean, this his finisher is still the most lethal in the company. The result is a little strange, as I expected Neville to get the win here, but I feel losing to Jericho on a live Tokyo show will not impact him negatively, especially after the match these two put on. Good choice for an opener and really set the tone of the show.

This triple threat was initially scheduled to include Naomi, but ... we got Tamina instead. The match was fine, but I got the sense all three put a little extra pressure on themselves due to the venue. The ending sort of came out of nowhere, but Nikki picked up the pinfall on Tamina to retain.

What we learned: Nikki’s reign will roll on to the next pay-per-view, Battleground. She’s held the Divas title for 223 days and counting and it looks like only something massive -- like, say, a group of NXT women showing up -- will be able to knock her off her throne.

A little surprising that this match went on third, but not THAT surprising, because as big of a deal as Brock is, it’s still a match against Kofi Kingston. Sorry, Kofi. As expected, Brock won a short, dominant, almost impossibly fun match after three German suplexes and an F-5. After the match, he hit another F-5 on Kofi, then hit F-5s on both Xavier Woods and Big E, who ran out to try to help. Like you can stop a rampaging Brock Lesnar. Please.

What we learned: BROCK LESNAR IS AN UNSTOPPABLE SANDWICH MONSTER WHO WILL GRIND YOUR BONES TO MAKE HIS BREAD. HE IS GOING TO RAIN DEVASTATION DOWN UPON THE WWE LIKE WORLD WAR HULK.

The REAL main event of the evening didn’t end the show, but that doesn’t matter. As expected, Bálor brought the demon in his return to the country that made him an international superstar. This was treated as a true main event in Japan, with streamers and bouquets for both men (Owens threw his into the crowd, naturally).

This match got nuts early and never let up. Owens continued to bring his feud with John Cena into the match, mocking Cena by doing a sequence of his moves and finishing with the Five Knuckle Shuffle and taunting a group of Cena cosplayers in the front row. He was really a next-level heel in this match, doing everything he could to get the crowd riled up and channeling more than a little bit of his pre-WWE life as Kevin Steen.

After a possible match of the year candidate, Bálor hit a second Coup de Grace to pin Kevin Owens and take the NXT title. After the match, WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Tatsumi Fujinami hit the ring to personally congratulate Finn.

What we learned: Finn Bálor is a legitimate supernova. Someone who has something special and is going to set a future WrestleMania on fire. Just wait for his first WrestleMania entrance, everyone. Lord almighty. Owens himself is no slouch, of course, but WWE is already making Owens a big deal. Depending upon how many people were watching this event live (and it seems like there were plenty), this might have been Bálor’s true coming-out party.

Bálor will now get a run as the top NXT star for a while (Hideo Itami was watching at ringside and he’ll be lined up to feud with his friend Bálor over the title as soon as he returns from his shoulder injury). Owens, meanwhile, is free to fully transition into his WWE main roster career. The NXT belt will stop being a distraction in his feud with Cena and if anything, he will be even more driven to make everyone else’s life a living hell. Kevin Owens with an even bigger chip on his shoulder? Yep, that will do JUST fine.

DON’T WORRY, JAPAN. THE STARS ARE HERE, TOO. John Cena’s team won by virtue of being the team with the most John Cena on it. Cena got the pinfall on Barrett after hitting the Attitude Adjustment. I promise I didn’t type that sentence ahead of time.

What we learned: A house show is designed to show the crowd the big stars and send everyone home happy. The last match of the evening was the only part that REALLY felt like a house show. And that’s okay. After the NXT title match, there wasn’t much that could bring this thing down. This tag match will not have any effect on anything, ever. But that’s okay, too. Sometimes you can just watch a fun tag team match. It was really refreshing to see all four of these guys fully engaged and working hard for 20 minutes or so.

Not the most memorable way to end a show with such a memorable match, but Owens vs. Bálor is definitely worth going out of your way to watch. Like, “waking up at 2:30 a.m. PT” worth it. Thanks for the 4th of July present, WWE. It was wholeheartedly appreciated.

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