WingedEagle

Where's Shota Umino these days? According to Cagematch he hasn't had a match in 14 months.

This match was indeed phenomenal and Kid was the highlight between his uphill fight at the end and how they used the mask. I'm not sure how highly it would rate for people watching in a vacuum as opposed to having followed the path there, but the drama and work would probably stand out even without context.

As I make my way through Toryumon and Dragon Gate, Kid stands out as someone who basically never has a bad match. He's always solidly entertaining at worst. I'm not sure I'll find many, if any, classics on his resume which will certainly limit how he ranks for me but I can't rule out someone who's that good for that long.

Akiyama has had an incredibly long career working various roles, whether singles or tag, and with an incredible array of opponents given the generations and promotions he's crossed. I was trying to pinpoint just why I don't regard him as highly as his peers from AJPW/NOAH and other GOAT candidates and think its because he rarely, if ever, made me feel the way they did. And I mean literally feel. Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, Tanahashi, Bryan, even Flair -- whether through their fiery comebacks or the way they'll work the crowd, wrestlers of that level can get me can get me invested in a match at a level that others simply can't. I won't just enjoy what I'm watching but will actually care about what's happening -- whether for a fleeting moment or more. Akiyama has been great at this for nearly 30 years. He's probably no worse than a top 20-25 candidate. But he didn't make me feel the way those I'd consider at #1 ever did and that's why I can't look at him as a top 10 candidate.

I haven't looked into it deeply but thought I saw something that Japan has rules about only administering vaccines manufactured in Japan. If accurate it would certainly contribute to a slow rollout. Regardless, its certainly an unfortunate situation.

I don't see how its remotely outlandish to suggest Shawn & Marty's best matches, specifically vs. Rose & Somers, are better than anything those teams did.

Where is this current comedy Fuchi?

He'd probably insist that we ignore the years he wore a mask, in which case his candidacy holds no water.

Just wanted to add that Yasuda vs. Nagata is a series worth checking out whether or not you're interested in either as a GWE candidate.

Someone I've seen praised heavily enough in enough circles that I want to make a point to look into. That's all I can say, so hopefully this serves as a reminder at some point.

Thanks, will definitely check it out. I've heard of the promotion but never gone out of my way to watch one of their shows. Good to have some names/matches to start with.

Is there any match or promo worth checking out from last night?

How much Wahoo is available? I feel like I've heard about a few matches arising from the Houston footage along with bits & pieces from the AWA but do we have anything extensive beyond clips from elsewhere?

A list of Inoki matches to check out from the 70s would be much appreciated. This sounds awesome and reads like Okada/Shibata.

This is correct. I'm sure if people search far and wide on this vast world wide web of ours some other options may be out there, but DG's site is the easiest and direct way.

Where do any wrestlers have personal belongings? There's no clubhouse or arena/stadium like there is for a sports team and I didn't think anyone who wasn't in training at the PC had any kind of residence there.

They've been mixing in a few rookies at the top of the card and in their units, while Shun Skywalker came back from excursion, won their top belt in his return match and has looked great along the way in tags and his defenses. Their shows are generally quick watches where little overstays its welcome and they've mixed up the programs/units enough to keep things interesting. They've been running a few too many DQ/gimmick finishes of late building to a mask/hair stipulation match at Dead or Alive but I'm counting on that to deliver with SB Kento, one of the fresh faces, likely getting his head shaved. Another, Hip Hop Kikuta, is challenging Skywalker on that show. I don't buy a title change for a moment but it should be a good match as Kikuta has looked great thus far for a rookie and even losing a title match should benefit him going forward. Even Cyber Kong is proving himself useful as a babyface on the twin gate scene with Mochizuki. Don't go in expecting a match that even approaches what NJPW's big matches deliver, but its enjoyable as hell.

Life as a wrestling fan is amazing. Unless you insist on watch everything live you can fast forward through anything, access almost anything from the last 40+ years that's made tape in a matter of minutes and immediately thereafter find people who'll tell you you're wrong for loving or hating it. What more could I possibly ask for?

I don't think its unreasonable to call last year's WK double shot unifying the titles the peak of this past era. Whether creative has turned south due to poor ideas, saving better ones for post-covid, a lack of foreeign talent or all of the above doesn't really matter -- the Evil reign, rampant interference making its way to the main event scene and Okada with an off switch are not good things. There's nothing to defend there. Now let's leave all that aside. Last year's G1 was outstanding in the ring. I was higher on the final than most but I don't recall too many being sour on the booking once Ibushi went over. The top of the card has been phenomenal this year as well. Between Shingo/Cobb, Okada/Ospreay, Shingo/Tanahashi and Ibushi/Ospreay there's been no shortage of great matches. Undercards and Road To shows have generally been skippable and filler. That's a big difference from the past where big show lineups would be packed and you'd have 1 or 2 choice matches on the setup shows that would be worth checking out, whereas now they're running as many of those shows as they can to generate cash flow and as a result we're getting run of the mill multi-man matches all the time. There's very little you have to go out of your way to see even for those who regularly follow the promotion. Is it peak 2010s New Japan? No. But we've got another Ospreay/Shingo and Ospreay/Okada rematches coming up along with unannounced main events to fill at Dome shows and Dominion. For my money Dragon Gate has been the most enjoyable promotion *top to bottom* over the past year when factoring in booking (a bit inconsistent this year but their shows are all more interesting), but this company and its roster still put on the best big show matches. I can't complain too much about that.

Isn't New Japan running Korakuen into the ground with seemingly multiple shows per week as opposed to once or twice per month? Not to defend NJPW's booking of late because other than putting together main events that consistently deliver in the ring it hasn't exactly been creative to write home about. But I believe DDT, TJPW and the like are still running Korakuen essentially monthly for the equivalent of their PPV shows, as opposed to NJPW's Road To shows, which might be at Shinkiba or similarly small buildings for DDT & the like.

I'm comfortable saying he'll rank in the top quarter of my ballot and wouldn't be at all surprised if he finished in the top half of it. This is year 10 of a run that's seen him produce more great matches than just about anyone every single year.

Thanks, fun to see this kind of movement and I'm certainly curious to see how it'll shake out in a few years. Will be interesting to look at the next round of results and see what trends and footage drive rankings at that time.

Make this happen.

Many thanks for a phenomenally and meticulously prepared review that has me eager to watch this match. We'll see if I dive right in or wait to watch more early 80s AJW for some context. Kudos.

His ring work outside of AEW and a bit of indies before that is a real blind spot for me. If this were a promos list he'd be at worst top 1/3 or so. Hopefully someone can provide an extensive rec list for him that we can dive into at some point.