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King of Indy Style
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by King of Indy Style »

Not really. Taka/Taichi aren't a really good team, and plus they set up for Desperado and Kanemaru to get a shot. The KES get another title shot in a week in Osaka that I bet they win, and while I would have liked MiSu to win, if he did it would have been transitional at best.
SweetDaddy
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by SweetDaddy »

I watch NJPW religiously and I know I'm judgemental but I'm not feeling them.

Suzuki has no business what so ever as the world champ but I'd be fine with the KES getting the tag straps.

Minoru looks deformed to me.

Like his mom was on drugs.
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

SweetDaddy wrote:I watch NJPW religiously and I know I'm judgemental but I'm not feeling them.

Suzuki has no business what so ever as the world champ
But did you like the match?
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by SweetDaddy »

Can't lie.

I've been at work today.

Haven't had a chance to watch it yet.
ROHfan2002
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by ROHfan2002 »

Decided to just jump in and get New Japan World. Watched the first half of New Beginning today. So far, I'm liking what I'm seeing. Plus, with the exchange rate as is, I'm paying less than 9 bucks for this first month. That's cheaper than an ROH VOD.
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

ROHfan2002 wrote:Decided to just jump in and get New Japan World. Watched the first half of New Beginning today. So far, I'm liking what I'm seeing. Plus, with the exchange rate as is, I'm paying less than 9 bucks for this first month. That's cheaper than an ROH VOD.
Post your thoughts. Curious what you think of the product. Watch Wrestle Kingdom 11. I highly recommend it.
ROHfan2002
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by ROHfan2002 »

I'm not good at "star ratings" for matches or anything like that. I'm up to the intermission on today's show. Matches are all solid. The action in the ring keeps my interest and doesn't insult my intelligence. The wrestlers are very good at working the match. My favorite so far is the ten man tag. I really like what I've seen from Shibata, but he didn't really have enough time in his match to do much. I do like how New Japan will keep older stars around, but will put them in multi man tag matches and such early in the show. Nagata in the ring is still nice to see (I remember him from WCW), but Nagata in one of the main bouts would be idiotic.

I have watched the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, and it was incredible. Best match I have watched in a long time Watching that for free was what put me over the edge into getting the service.
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Brada
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Brada »

NJPW is the best promotion on the planet right now IMO.
Big Red Machine
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Big Red Machine »

Brada wrote:NJPW is the best promotion on the planet right now IMO.
Really? I've found the booking to be dull and stale for quite a while. At times it feels like they're going out of their way to swerve us just for the sake of swerving us (last night's finishes feeling like a perfect example of this), and many of the swerves wind up aggravating. The G1 booking in particular I think has been quite bad, with that Tenzan thing last year being the worst thing any wrestling company has done in a while that still fell within the realm of something that feels like it could happen if this were real. I think that they've basically been getting by on having excellent workers and lucking into things (like people for some reason enjoying Honma's gimmick), and even when they do luck into something like that, they completely miss capitalizing on it (like Honma finally getting that G1 win in a situation where the win meant absolutely nothing).
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Wilson
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Wilson »

Mr. Mojo Risin wrote:Suzuki-Gun is completely shut out last night? WTF? I don't understand that shit at all. Meltzer is high on the main event. Wondering if anyone has seen that and echoes those sentiments. If so, is that putting Okada as an early candidate for WOTY?
It was the Patriots/Falcons of wrestling, an extremely pleasant live experience and a thoroughly one-sided flouncing (for most of the time).
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Big Red Machine »

Mr. Mojo Risin wrote:Suzuki-Gun is completely shut out last night? WTF? I don't understand that shit at all. Meltzer is high on the main event. Wondering if anyone has seen that and echoes those sentiments. If so, is that putting Okada as an early candidate for WOTY?
I thought it was definitely up there.
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Brada »

Big Red Machine wrote:
Brada wrote:NJPW is the best promotion on the planet right now IMO.
Really? I've found the booking to be dull and stale for quite a while. At times it feels like they're going out of their way to swerve us just for the sake of swerving us (last night's finishes feeling like a perfect example of this), and many of the swerves wind up aggravating. The G1 booking in particular I think has been quite bad, with that Tenzan thing last year being the worst thing any wrestling company has done in a while that still fell within the realm of something that feels like it could happen if this were real. I think that they've basically been getting by on having excellent workers and lucking into things (like people for some reason enjoying Honma's gimmick), and even when they do luck into something like that, they completely miss capitalizing on it (like Honma finally getting that G1 win in a situation where the win meant absolutely nothing).

You make good points Big Red....maybe my focus is on the work rate and that is why I say that.

What promotion would you put at the top of your list at the moment?
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DXvsNWO1994
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by DXvsNWO1994 »

I honestly didn't mind Suzuki-gun losing all of their title matches in Sapporo. Yes, the angle last month with their return was great, but do we really need to see those guys have a big run as the dominant heel faction in New Japan? I mean, I'm totally fine with Suzuki & KES being back, but they don't need to be in that spot (especially after they just did the same thing in NOAH for two years).
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Colt45
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Colt45 »

Suzuki fan here so I might be a little biased, but I dug that match and easily rank it among the best I've seen since returning to NJPW. I'll admit I'm one of those Wrestle Kingdom 11 people so it was cool to see how a regular show stacks up to the yearly spectacle and how the main event compares.

Honestly, I'll agree Suzuki looked rough physically, but in the ring the man worked smooth as butter. Everything about his style screamed slimy old geezer from the grappling counters that he could only perfect after years of competing, to the stalling between submission, to the shoot style strikes he could land at will, all the way to the inability to get hurt by Okada's boyish forearms. Minoru's appearance said old dog, but once got inside the ring was mean, savvy, and tough as leather. I also didn't think the interference hurt the match at all because Suzuki Gun had a extra rough night and needed to save face at all costs. The whole squad's rep was on the line, not just Minoru's.

Sans Okada/Omega, the ace's bout with Minoru is my MOTY. It's not going to please everyone but for fans that don't mind long periods of submission limb work will find a lot to like in between. I think the most important thing is to not compare this to Okada/Omega. It's not even the same type of match. It's slow. It's stiff. There is a lot of character work. I know I've chalked a lot of this match's success to Suzuki but Okada sold the leg like it was real after having it beaten mercilessly and nearly torn off at the kneecap. My only gripe was he ignored this a few times in a few WTF moments. Unfortunately, this will probably end up forgotten as a match by the end of the year but will probably be remembered for Okada's grit and emotion. I'll however remember it as another Minori Suzuki classic.

****1/2 easily.
Big Red Machine
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Big Red Machine »

Brada wrote:
Big Red Machine wrote:
Brada wrote:NJPW is the best promotion on the planet right now IMO.
Really? I've found the booking to be dull and stale for quite a while. At times it feels like they're going out of their way to swerve us just for the sake of swerving us (last night's finishes feeling like a perfect example of this), and many of the swerves wind up aggravating. The G1 booking in particular I think has been quite bad, with that Tenzan thing last year being the worst thing any wrestling company has done in a while that still fell within the realm of something that feels like it could happen if this were real. I think that they've basically been getting by on having excellent workers and lucking into things (like people for some reason enjoying Honma's gimmick), and even when they do luck into something like that, they completely miss capitalizing on it (like Honma finally getting that G1 win in a situation where the win meant absolutely nothing).

You make good points Big Red....maybe my focus is on the work rate and that is why I say that.

What promotion would you put at the top of your list at the moment?
Definitely Evolve. New Japan might have a higher workrate on the top of the cards, but they also go ahead and waste a quarter of the show on pointless matches that exist solely for the sake of getting everyone on the card. In terms of just storylines, LU is up there as well, but they're a bit of a different animal, as I'm really into interested in the whole mystical thing they've got going on. But when you take into account the combination of workrate, booking, and the general sense that everything that happens matters, Evolve is definitely number one.
Big Red Machine
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Big Red Machine »

DXvsNWO1994 wrote:I honestly didn't mind Suzuki-gun losing all of their title matches in Sapporo. Yes, the angle last month with their return was great, but do we really need to see those guys have a big run as the dominant heel faction in New Japan? I mean, I'm totally fine with Suzuki & KES being back, but they don't need to be in that spot (especially after they just did the same thing in NOAH for two years).
I kind of got this feeling, too. Like they were going out of their way to not make this the Suzuki-Gun vs. NOAH feud, but at the same time it kind of felt like maybe this was just a placeholder show until Omega (and Bullet Club) are back and then things will be back to being the same as we've seen for the past few years.
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

I am getting to see Naito's run as IWGP Champion courtesy of AXS. He was fantastic! I really enjoyed his match against Ishii. It got me to thinking. Did Gedo take the belt off Naito knowing that he possibly could supplant Okada in the top guy department and slapped the Intercontinental title on him to sort of keep the Nakamura role on him? Its like that title is almost the safeguard title to keep around the guy who could or should be at the top but isn't because the top is reserved only for Okada/Tanahashi (when Nakamura was IC Champ).
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Brada
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Brada »

Great point Mojo. Naito is MONEY too me. The guy just has "it". I would have him always in the mix for the IWGP belt. No disrespect towards the IC title, as I think NJPW has done a great job establishing that title, I just think Naito is good enough to be the lead dog...
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by DXvsNWO1994 »

Signed for the upcoming shows in early match (I think the singles match is on their anniversary show):

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Brada
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Re: The NJPW Thread

Post by Brada »

I wish they would let Ibushi be Ibushi
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