WingedEagle

Based on what I've read from you here, don't listen to these guys. When Shibata & Sakuraba first came back in 2012, they were pretty dull. Shibata adjusted and became the uber masculine, more-guts-than-brains, dick measuring asshole that you seem to be enjoying in these reviews. Sakuraba stayed dull, didn't get over, never got out of the midcard, and is now out of the company. I don't think the style gets redundant like others are saying, either. I though the Dome match was fucking awesome, just like the Ishii Dome match, just like all of the 2015, 2014, 2013 G1 stuff... You should watch the Ishii/Goto matches, too. More pure, unadulterated, stupid men doping stupid things and defiantly no selling until one guy dies. How that can ever wear thin is a mystery to me, but to each his own. Cosign all of this. Caveat that it doesn't wear thin, but the impact and innovative aspect of it that's there the first couple times does wear off eventually. Its always good but that shock to the system can't last forever.

CMLL really needs to cut down on the crowd shots. They make WWE look moderate by comparison in that department.

I think there's always more to take away from a crowd down the stretch and for a finish than the beginning.

I'm happy to rave about the last 3 matches, but very much on board with you with respect to the undercard. Nothing there was bad, but like you said there are routinely better WWE TV matches. The fact that Satoshi Kojima' sschtick popped the crowd more than anything else on the undercard says it all. Plenty of other things to enjoy there, especially Roppong Vice, Ishii and even the return of Toru Yano, who I personally dig and never overstays his welcome in any match. But nothing at all approached a blow away match.

Agree with all of this, particularly the first point, as it gets to my note above about how a number can do a better job, over time and across matches, of clarifying a given reviewer's taste & standards. I'd hope the second point about ***** matches is true as well. Personal favorites are great, but everyone should have some perspective that allows for easily distinguishing them from those matches that are true classics.

I like star ratings because as much as a well written and considered review may be, short of saying something was atrocious or an all-timer, those snowflakes provide some context for comparative purposes that a qualitative evaluation simply doesn't. Whether we have different scales or I agree or disagree, that number helps distinguish preferences which I think are very important.

For those who do so, how do you watch New Japan World on the TV? Any options other than Chromecast?

To Dylan's point about the crowd being a bit down during the open of the match, I don't disagree but also think there's something to be said for coming right after the Tanahashi/Naito finish as well knowing a long match was ahead. Not sure its unreasonable to think everyone in the Dome was pacing themselves to an extent.

I don't know. My point is simply that if they are regularly adjusting their game to him, I hold them responsible rather than him. That's shortsighted and silly, and coming from someone who's read the Observer for over 20 years now (Jesus Christ) and credit him with exposing me to more new & different wrestling any other source. But I'm a fan on my couch, not doing this for a living. Hopefully wrestlers have more and broader influences & perspectives.

Yes! My new fix!

But this WK main event has become this internet community sensation. Not sure that happens without Dave. Bayley wasn't tweeting about NJPW's big September main event or whatever. 1) WK is their Wrestlemania. Its reasonable to expect more discussion & noise about this than September's Destruction show, just as there will be more chatter about Wrestlemania than for Battleground or Night of Champions. 2) A sensation on this or similar internet communities is a sensation on this and similar internet sensations. Not among the mass casual audience that companies like WWE or NJPW should be promoting towards.

I can't imagine Bayley watching Wrestle Kingdom has anything at all to do with Dave Meltzer. His name is Meltzer, not McMahon or Levesque. Let's not confuse the influence.

I'm sure he'll be in as soon as he says he's ready for it.

At what point do we blame the workers rather than Dave Meltzer? If their ultimate goal is to make him happy that's great. But if they have career objectives beyond that -- whether it be building live show attendance or buys at their current company, increased bookings and paychecks from a variety of companies due to greater exposure, a full time job at a bigger company, working or headlining WWE PPV shows, or whatever the case may be for each individual, perhaps they'll consider a wider variety of influences and map out the best path to get them where they want to go. There are likely many paths towards all of these ends and it at once both giving Meltzer too much credit while simultaneously not holding wrestlers responsible for their own independent decisions. I also think its important not to inflate Meltzer's impact beyond what's realistic. How much did he drive the crowd and crowd response for Wrestle Kingdom? If NJPW wasn't satisfied with the gate and with NJW subs, shouldn't that have more of an impact on the direction of the company than anything Dave Meltzer thinks? Let's not inflate this tiny bubble to something too big.

Totally agree. You've got both: 1) the bodyslam that's used as a transition spot as part of an overall build during the body of the match that clearly works the body without being trivialized, as well as 2) the bodyslam that follows a sustained attack on the back, which after a series of kicks, stomps, strikes, backbreakers can be used for an effective near fall. Its all about conditioning an audience to where moves beyond those that make up a finishing arsenal matter, and is just as much as using those big spots sparingly as it is mixing in simpler offense. Both are necessary and effective to healthy, varying matches.

They certainly don't have to be used for near falls, but rather building towards bigger, more devastating moves that should produce near falls or finishes. All about the escalation.

Lot of great points here that I think hold true for how most people view a given match, whether they realize it or not. We all go into a match or show with certain concepts, points of reference, expectations and and levels of familiarity. Especially going into something completely cold -- at times it may very well accentuate or hinder what you take away from a match, but its no less of a distinct perspective.

This may have been my first time seeing everyone here. I'd heard about Nakajima & Takahashi before, although surprisingly the latter made the least impression of anyone in this match. They all worked very stiffly, particularly when Sakura was in with Fujimoto. Both sides worked well as teams rather than individuals, effectively using basic tag psychology on double teams and isolating one member of the other squad. This was humming along like a pretty decent steak until the finish, where they couldn't help themselves and needed to work in a ton of kickouts when one or two would've done just fine, which took things from a nice medium rare to an overcooked medium. Still a solid piece of meat, but not quite what I ordered. One really neat spot was Sakura hitting a top rope frankensteiner on Takahashi which brought her down with a senton on Fujimoto. Particularly impressive at Sakura's size, as was her Moonsault. The opening matwork was also solid and hinted at what else they could do in a different style and tempo. Would love to see a few of them match up with the girls in Stardom. ***1/2

That was my initial feeling as well, but after rewatching both recently I gave the slight edge to the August affair. Ciampa's stretch as FIP along with the teases eventually building to Gargano's hot tag were so great and timed just about perfectly, and then you had the posting on the floor along with the ultimate chop block setting up the finish when it felt like we were getting a title change. Its funny, I almost always prefer a happy ending but this time dug the heel victory more. But its really splitting hairs. These are likely #2 & #3 on my 2016 MOTY list and the best tags I've seen since the heyday of All Japan.

Yes. Between the G1 year after year (likely responsible for all of the matches referenced in July or August) and who he's generally been programmed with you'll find that quite a bit.

Great, thanks.

Will this show be posted on Youtube?

A few others -- vs. Ishii 2/11/16 vs. Tanahashi 7/26/14, 9/21/14 & 8/8/15 vs. Evil 8/13/16 vs. Nakamura 8/21/14

YES! PARV IS ALL IN! Absolutely love that you love it. Would never have predicted it but you need to go deep on it. You also have to dive into the BJW crew -- Shuji Ishikawa, Yuji Okabayashi, etc. Its similar but I think with more depth on most occasions even if it doesn't quite reach the same heights of insanity.

Will be interesting to see if you have the same take after seeing more from Shibata. Could very well be the case or you may have a different view with more his matches under your belt.