pol

Excited to listen to this one. Random thought: the elbow to the guard rail in Misawa/Kobashi 1/20/97 is imo the best and most memorable transition of all time.

Is he still complaining about kayfabe breaking for minutes on end on every single show?

I really appreciate that American Alpha are bringing back the extended shine and the abbreviated stretch run to tag matches.

There definitely seems to be something going on in CMLL lately. You only have to look at that lineup, plus the last few weeks of Friday cards. They've been consistently positioning talented guys to have good matches. Let's see how long it lasts.

Not comfortable with praising a Japanese guy for 'transcending cultural barriers' in the absence of any evidence in the form of him working in front of different crowds. Seems far too spurious an explanation for one guy appealing to you over another. Also hard to imagine that line of argument being used to talk up, say, an American worker that never worked in Japan but hypothetically could have gotten over there.

Great stuff here. I'd like to see what you think of Yuji Okabayashi vs. Ryota Hama (2/9, BJW). I thought it was one of the better Japanese matches of the year and worked in a way that even people generally down on modern Japanese wrestling should enjoy.

On the other hand the Fantasticamania cards look incredible. 2016/01/17 (Sun), 2AM EST Kochi Kochi Sunpia Cerise: 1.KUSHIDA & Stuka Jr. vs. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu 2. The Panther & Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Boby Zavala & Okumura 3. Fuego & Titan vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Barbaro Cavernario 4. Jay White & Dragon Lee vs. Virus & Hechicero 5. BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito vs. Juice Robinson, Mascara Dorada & Atlantis 6. Ryusuke Taguchi & Volador Jr. vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Mephisto 7. Jushin Liger, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Mistico vs. Gedo, Kazuchika Okada & Ultimo Guerrero 2016/01/19 (Tue) 4:30 AM EST Kyoto Kyoto KBS Hall: 1. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi 2. The Panther vs. Okumura 3. Boby Zavala vs. Guerrero Maya 4. David Finlay, Jushin Liger, Dragon Lee & Titan vs. YOSHI-HASHI, Virus, Hechicero & Barbaro Cavernario 5. Stuka Jr., Mascara Dorada & Atlantis vs. BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito 6. KUSHIDA & Mistico vs. Gedo & Ultimo Guerrero 7. Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Mephisto vs. Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Volador Jr. 2016/01/20 (Wed) 4:30 AM EST Osaka Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, second stadium (EDION arena Osaka): 1. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Jushin Liger & Stuka Jr. 2. Boby Zavala vs. The Panther 3. Guerrero Maya vs. Okumura 4. Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Hechicero & Barbaro Cavernario vs. Jay White, KUSHIDA Ryusuke Taguchi & Titan 5. Fuego, Mascara Dorada & Atlantis vs. BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito 6. Juice Robinson, Volador Jr. & Mistico vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Mephisto & Ultimo Guerrero 7. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dragon Lee vs. Kazuchika Okada & Virus 2016/01/22 (Fri) 4:30 AM EST Tokyo Korakuen Hall: 1. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Stuka Jr. & Fuego 2. David Finlay, Jushin Liger, KUSHIDA, The Panther & Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Boby Zavala, Hechicero & Okumura 3. Juice Robinson & Atlantis vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito 4. Mexican National Welterweight Championship: Barbaro Cavernario © vs. Titan 5. CMLL World Welterweight Championship: BUSHI © vs. Mascara Dorada 6. Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dragon Lee vs. Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & Virus 7. Volador Jr. & Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Mephisto 2016/01/23 (Sat) 4:30 AM EST Tokyo Korakuen Hall: 1. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Titan & Mascara Dorada 2. KUSHIA, Juice Robinson & Fuego vs. Hechicero, Gedo & YOSHI-HASHI 3. CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship: The Panther & Guerrero Maya Jr. © vs. Boby Zavala & Okumura 4. Ryusuke Taguchi & Stuka Jr. vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Barbaro Cavernario 5. Tiger Mask IV, Atlantis & Jushin Liger vs. BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito 6. CMLL World Lightweight Championship: Dragon Lee © vs. Virus 7. Black Cat Memorial Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Volador Jr. & Mistico vs. Kazuchika Okada, Mephisto & Ultimo Guerrero 2016/01/24 (Sun) 4:30 AM EST Tokyo Korakuen Hall: 1. Sho & Yohei Final Sendoff: Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. The Panther & Guerrero Maya 2. Tiger Mask IV, KUSHIDA, Fuego, Stuka Jr. & Titan vs. Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Boby Zavala, Okumura & Hechicero 3. Lucha de Maestros: Jushin Liger vs. Virus 4. Mascara Dorada’s Final NJPW Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Mascara Dorada & Atlantis vs. BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito 5. Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dragon Lee vs. Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & Barbaro Cavernario 6. Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero 7. NWA World Historic Welterwight Championship: Volador Jr. © vs. Mephisto

NJPW "THE NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA", 11.02.2016 Edion Arena Osaka 1. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title: Toru Yano, Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe © vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga 2. NEVER Openweight Title: Katsuyori Shibata © vs. Tomohiro Ishii 3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title, 3 Way Match: Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson © vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet 4. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada © vs. Hirooki Goto NJPW "THE NEW BEGINNING IN NIIGATA", 14.02.2016 Aora Nagaoka 1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: KUSHIDA © vs. BUSHI 2. IWGP Tag Team Title: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows 3. IWGP Intercontinental Title, Decision Match: Kenny Omega vs. X Night 1 does nothing for me. I'm interested in KUSHIDA/BUSHI and GBH/BC, and mildly curious to see how Kenny Omega adapts to being a heavyweight, but I currently can't stand the guy so I'm not holding out much hope that he's going to suddenly become someone I enjoy watching.

Agree on the sterile environment of modern NJPW (both in terms of house style and presentation), though I suspect I still dig much more of it Parv would.

Wrestling should be held to a higher standard than reality.

This is a great point very evocatively put. I like analysis as much as the next guy, and I'm not opposed to wrestling being a more intellectual than emotional exercise (shoot style often falls into that bucket for me), but I do feel that among those who are inclined to think in-depth about the bell-to-bell aspects of wrestling, a detached perspective in which structure is privileged and less tangible, more emotional factors are undervalued is common. I'm not sure if it even reflects upon how people actually respond to the matches so much as how we're inclined to discuss them.

Both guys are capable of having great matches built around selling and psychology, so yeah. I find it a disappointing waste of talent that they're content to have this kind of match with each other.

Please don't.

Opener was very well put together; I liked it better than last year's. Felt like a collection of discrete moments where everyone got a chance to shine rather than a non-stop stream of action, which is a positive. If you don't like guys convalescing on the floor until it's time to go, fine, but you could make the same complaint about lucha trios matches. My only complaint is that they paid lip service to usual tag rules and who the legal man is before shitcanning it halfway through. Just make it scramble tag rules if you're going to do that. Trios match was okay. Mark Briscoe was going nuts out there with crazy spots was the highlight. Tama Tonga, who is someone I (and many others) have long been advocating should get a bigger spot, seemed like he choked out there, which is a shame. The heat segment was pretty tedious. Finishing stretch was weird and awkward. Lethal/Elgin was a perfectly acceptable match marred by a crowd that could not have given less of a shit. KUSHIDA/Omega was again just fine and nothing more. I thought the undercard really began to feel rushed at this point. Tag Title match was the best match up to that point. Really well-worked southern style tag, strong heat segment, nice hope spots, hot comeback. Not much more you can ask for. Makabe, who is usually putrid, looked good! I really liked his selling of the jaw. Naito/Goto was ruined for me by NJPW World tanking for the first time that night. The finish sets up an Okada/Goto match, which, God, can you think of anything more boring? I don't understand not having Naito go over here. Ishii/Shibata was an artless exercise in stupidity. Easily the worst match on the show and the only one I'd call bad. Even ignoring the stupid no-selling and 1-kickout shit, I thought the match was structurally dull - endless back-and-forth with no sense of escalation. How many times can you do "guy gets hit with a couple of stiff shots, stands around selling while the other guy runs the ropes, then hits a big move out of nowhere!" deal in a single match? So tedious. AJ/Nakamura was two excellent workers hampered by the formulaic nature of the NJPW style. It's funny because these are two guys who usually seem to get more leeway with their match structures, but this felt like a stock NJPW big match - the pacing and ordering of the big spots, the not deviating from your stock offense even though it makes sense to do so, the incredibly predictable near falls. I thought the most impressive thing about the match was how it built in intensity and excitement throughout, but it never quite hit that next level for me. Probably to an extent a victim of my very high expectations. Okada/Tanahashi was, at least in the moment, incredible. Really typical Tanahashi/Okada in that there's plenty to find fault with in terms of individual moments, but if you buy into the story they're telling those issues are easy to overlook. If you need rock solid technical work or dislike over the top melodrama then Tanahashi is never going to be your guy, and that's fine, but it's just as valid a style as any other. As shoe said above, the inconsistent limb selling is just the way limbs are sold in this promotion. If you want to argue that just means the house style is shitty, that's certainly a valid take, but I find it more productive to try to accept stylistic quirks and evaluate matches on their own terms rather than bringing a bunch of prescriptive baggage to the table. Overall I'd call it a good show, but I don't think I could call it very good, let alone great. The undercard was pretty uninspiring with far too many goofy heel shenanigans - I think something like 6 of 9 matches had some kind of cheating in them. As I said on Twitter, the people who claim they prefer NJPW to WWE because it treats wrestling like a sport don't really have a leg to stand on following this show. Ishii/Shibata was awful, AJ/Nakamura very good but disappointing, and Okada/Tanahashi was phenomenal. Ultimately the show hangs its hat on the main event, and even though that was excellent I can't rate an entire 4 hour show too highly on that match alone.

That looks like it, thanks. I should've thought to search in Japanese. Now let's see if i can actually get it to download...

The only version of the 2001 Akiyama match I can find is JIP to the last 7 minutes. Is the full version out there?

Reigns's promo in the closing segment was approaching all-time level bad.

I don't remember if he used the word, but he was definitely talking about it in those terms. I don't see that part as that big a deal since he was referring to a TV bit that Honma does. I don't even see it as a stretch that it is a purely gimmick deal that Ichiki overreacted to. But when you use her being a woman as the reason she overreacted to it, in the context of a story about said woman making domestic violence accusations... that's really messed up.

Context for those not familiar with the situation: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3uvypm/kiyoko_ichiki_comes_forward_with_domestic/cxidm3u Dave re: her being upset at Honma's talk show "angle" where he's in love with a pop star: "It's women, what can I say." Which would be stupid enough itself, especially given how many men have worked themselves into a shoot over an on-screen attraction. But while he wasn't referring directly to the domestic violence accusations (and I'm sure that will be his defense when called out on this), in context it's hard not to take it as him acting like she's just a crazy woman who's probably making the whole thing up.

Some really disgusting comments from Dave today about the Tomoaki Honma domestic violence situation.

He rips his shirt off Hogan-style in one of his intros, and him and Hugo have a special intro sequence that's a replication of the Hogan/Andre staredown. So that seems to be what they were going for despite the lack of resemblance.

A match like the one Roman and Brock had that night ending on a fuck finish is like an epic symphony ending on a wrong note. I can't ignore that regardless of how great the stuff that came before was.

I was surprised at the praise for the main event on the podcast. To me it seemed like 2 minutes of back and forth followed by 7 minutes of near falls, and was a sign that the agents have no clue how to lay out a compelling but short main event match.

Eyeballing it, Raw is down a good 500-700k average viewers from the same period (that is, football season) last year. Even in the face of a changing media landscape it seems a little silly to act like that's irrelevant.

Well this is an odd one I'm sure Parv would get a kick out of this