benjaminkicks

The perfect sequel to their scorcher from the 2016 G1. Was absolutely dripping with callbacks to that match, which worked wonders because so many of the spots in that match were so memorable. Particularly loved Okada anticipating Ishii to chop him during the Rainmaker pose this time. I liked how they went through the finishing sequence of the previous match almost beat-for-beat, but instead of Ishii hitting the brainbuster this time Okada countered out of it. And then the match just continued to build from there! Ishii pulling out stuff reminiscent of Shibata, with the Rainmaker no-sell, as well as their CHAOS buddy Nakamura, with the desperation armbar as a callback to when Nak made Okada tap to the same move. The first half of this reminded me Ishii's match with Tanahashi in the 2016 G1 as well, as both matches were built around Okada/Tanahashi trying to prove that they could work Ishii's bruiser style. In their previous match, Okada got blitzed early by Ishii and was never really able to truly recover, but in the strike exchanges that buoyed the first part of the match here, Okada was not only able to wither the storm, but prove that he could stand up to Ishii in a battle of strikes. Okada looked like a badass, dominant ace here by powering through the beatings that Ishii was giving him, and Ishii as always looked super credible as the guy who will always take his opponents to the absolute limit, even if he can't always put them away. I also like how Okada has slowly built up an arsenal of different Rainmaker variations (backslide, spinning, and the German-into-Rainmaker), and he had to throw out all of them before he could finally get the win. ***** and my current MOTY

I've been thinking more about the Naito/Ibushi match, and I think it's purpose might be to set up a rematch for the IC title at MSG. A lot of people seem to have Ibushi pegged to with the Cup in light of the news of him signing a contract, but I don't think he'll be getting the belt so soon and I don't think White is gonna lose the title on the first defense. Ibushi/Naito at MSG would give the crowd there a guaranteed awesome match to look forward to, and seeing Ibushi win would provide a feelgood, babyface win before White wins in the main event. Plus it will free Naito up from the IC belt so he can go on to take the heavyweight title from White at Dontaku or Dominion. That leaves the person winning the Cup and challenging White, and if White retains there I think his challenger should be someone the crowd can get behind but won't think MUST win like one of the top guys. I think you'd get a lot of unhappy fans if they put Okada, Naito, or Ibushi in that spot and they lose to Jay White, who a lot of western fans already think is being pushed too hard. So I've settled on maybe Ishii being perfect in that spot, or maybe Juice, who would be elevated with the Cup win and would have a natural storyline with White as it'll be a rematch of the awesome match they had for the US title last year in the States. The nice thing for the company is that the stakes are relatively low regarding who they choose for that spot, because MSG is already sold out and the Cup finals always draws a good number.

Really surprised to see Naito vs. Ibushi in the first round, as I thought they'd want to keep the hopes of both of them winning alive for longer, but I can't complain because that's guaranteed to be a banger. Also looking forward to Nagata/Ishii, Elgin/Okada, Juice/Chase, Ospreay/Fale, Tanahashi/Umino, EVIL/Sabre, and Goto/SANADA throughout the first round. Lots of first-time entrants this year: Chase, Mikey Nicholls, Hikuleo, Ospreay, Henare, Umino, Finlay, and Cabana. Very clear they see Umino as a future star as they match him with Tanahashi in the first round. I was a big fan of TMDK before they went to NXT and was bummed they weren't really used more, so I'm happy to see Mikey Nicholls getting a shot in New Japan and I hope he does well.

New Japan Cup bracket has been released:

I think we have very different views on the product in general based off your previous comments throughout this thread. I freely admit to being a straight-up mark for modern New Japan, as it has been consistently my favorite promotion throughout the 8+ years that I've been following it closely. It's like Star Wars for me, where even though I recognize the faults and admit the franchise isn't perfect by any means, there's just something about it that always resonates deeply with me on an emotional level. That emotional investment is where pro wrestling (and entertainment media in general) is at its best for me. As much as I genuinely like and enjoy Jay White, a lot of my positivity surrounding this title change comes from my confidence in Gedo as a booker to craft a story that I'll personally enjoy. I also just want to see Jay White succeed because I've been watching him grow since he was a young lion, which really helps me invest in him as a character. I feel the same way with other young lions that I saw come up like EVIL, Hiromu, SHO, and YOH, and will most likely feel the same about the current crop when they eventually make their way back from excursion. I wasn't alone in having White pegged as a potential future star back when he was killing it in opening matches vs. David Finlay, so now it's exciting to see him come back from excursion and be that big star that I thought he could become back in 2015.

I'm excited about this title change, as I love it when a company goes all-in on pushing a new star. It feels very fresh and presents a lot of interesting possibilities going forward. The heat for the MSG main event is going to be off the charts no matter who they put in that spot vs. Jay, because you know the crowd is going to be 100% behind them. If it's a fan favorite like Okada, Ibushi, or Naito, it'll be like that awesome match he had with Juice last summer x10. I always find it exciting when a guy who I've been following since the young lion days comes back from their excursion and makes a splash, and Jay White has done an excellent job justifying his push over the last year. His character work and promos have been top notch and I'm pretty high on his matches as well. I was a little iffy during the G1 where all his matches were mired by chair shots and cheating, but I think that was really effective at getting him over as a major heel to the Japanese audience, and now that he's winning his matches cleanly I'm really enjoying what he brings in-ring.

I think Will Ospreay might be my pick. This is maybe his best career year, with excellent singles matches in a number of different promotions against a wide variety of opponents: Marty Scurll (x2), WALTER (x2), Matt Riddle (x2), Hiromu Takahashi (x2), KUSHIDA, Jordan Devlin, Kazuchika Okada, and Jay Lethal. His tag w/Ishii vs. the Golden Lovers is another feather in his cap, along with an all-around great run in the Best of the Super Juniors and being consistently one of the best multiman tag guys in New Japan all year.

I'm totally ok with Naito/Jericho II at the Dome. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it. I thought their first match was awesome, and with the way that match went it makes sense to build to the rematch and for Naito to get his revenge and take back the IC title.

New Japan does these non-G1 Sumo Hall shows twice a year and haven't sold less than 9k tickets for one since King of Pro-Wrestling 2015. There's a core New Japan fanbase in Tokyo that seems to trust the company to deliver a stellar show, regardless of the card. And even if people didn't like the card going into it, they still got one of the most newsworthy shows of the year.

The fact that New Japan doesn't announce the matches for shows until they are the next one up is something that I actually really like as a viewer, as it always keeps the focus on whatever matches and feuds that are coming immediately, and it's always fun to see the cards for the next shows announced like a day or two after each event/tour. But yes, it's obviously hurting their promotion for these US shows in particular. The point about no matches announced for King of Pro-Wrestling yet is an interesting one, and I think it suggests a couple things: New Japan is so confident in their ability to draw in Tokyo that they don't feel it's important to give proper notice on the card. This confidence isn't unwarranted, as they've sold out this show pretty easily in the past few years. I wouldn't be surprised if a good chunk of that show's ticket's are already sold. This in turn perhaps speaks to the fan's confidence that NJ will provide a show worth going to. The other thing it might suggest is that they have a big match lined up to headline King of Pro-Wrestling already, and they're planning to hype it at the Long Beach show. This was the first year since 2013 we got an IWGP Heavyweight title match at Destruction, so maybe this is the first year we get a different title to headline KOPW? There doesn't seem to be a logical opponent for Omega that could be built in such a short amount of time, and it looks like he's already looking ahead to Tanahashi at the Dome. So what would that leave us with? Jericho. They set up a feud with EVIL after he beat Naito, and a lot of people think we're getting Jericho/Naito II at the Dome, so Jericho showing up in Long Beach and attacking EVIL to set up the King of Pro-Wrestling main event, which would then lead to Jericho winning and Naito challenging, would make a lot of sense. Power Struggle in November is usually headlined by the IC title, but they have other titles that could headline that show, and this year with the IC belt on Jericho it feels big enough to maybe warrant a Sumo Hall main event.

The full card for next weekend's FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED show in Long Beach has been announced: Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) IWGP US Championship - Juice Robinson vs. Cody IWGP Tag Team Championship - Young Bucks vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tournament semifinal bout - Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. Jay White & Gedo Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) Jeff Cobb, Flip Gordon & Chris Sabin vs. Hirooki Goto & Best Friends (Chuckie T & Beretta) Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page & Chase Owens ACH, Ryusuke Taguchi & Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. Roppongi 3k (Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH)

Also, Hiromu Takahashi has officially vacated the Junior title, with a tournament to crown the new champion being comprised of KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI and Ospreay vs. Scurll, with the finals at King of Pro-Wrestling in October. Even more also, the first matches for the September 30th Long Beach show have been announced: IWGP US Heavyweight Title: Juice Robinson vs Cody IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: The Young Bucks vs Guerillas of Destiny IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament (Semi-Final 2): Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay

The full cards for September's Destruction tour have been released: Road to Destruction (9/7) Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, David Finlay & Ayato Yoshida vs. Bad Luck Fale, GOD & Taiji Ishimori Toa Henare vs. Beretta Hirooki Goto & Gedo vs. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku LIJ vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi Road to Destruction (9/8) Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs. Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji Ayato Yoshida vs. Chase Owens Bad Luck Fale, GOD & Taiji Ishimori vs. Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin, David Finlay & Toa Henare Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI LIJ vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Will Ospreay Kazuchika Okada & Beretta vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson Road to Destruction (9/9) Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura Bad Luck Fale, GOD & Taiji Ishimori vs. Michael Elgin, Ayato Yoshida, Shota Umino & Ren Narita Hirooki Goto & Gedo vs. Taichi & El Desperado LIJ vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Beretta & Will Ospreay Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi Destruction in Hiroshima (9/15) Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA vs. Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH Bad Luck Fale vs. Toa Henare Michael Elgin & Ayato Yoshida vs. KES Beretta, Chuckie T & Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens GOD & Taiji Ishimori © vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi-NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano & Gedo vs. Taichi, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru LIJ vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Jay White Kenny Omega © vs. Tomohiro Ishii-IWGP Heavyweight Championship Destruction in Beppo (9/17) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuya Uemura David Finlay & Ren Narita vs. Toa Henare & Shota Umino Takashi Iizuka vs. Ayato Yoshida Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH Super Best Friends vs. KES EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Jay White Hirooki Goto © vs. Taichi-NEVER Openweight Championship Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki Destruction in Kobe (9/23) Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. SHO & YOH Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ayato Yoshida vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi Super Best Friends vs. KES Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Toa Henare vs. Jay White, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI-IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada-IWGP Championship Certificate Match

The timing for the MSG show is weird, cause it'll either be right before or after the Sakura Genesis show, where the winner of the New Japan Cup will get a IWGP challenge. Because of this, I doubt we get a title match at Supercard.

I still believe that Naito will be the champion by the time the next G1 rolls around. I think he'll beat Omega sometime in the Spring or at Dominion. Then Okada will win the G1 and we'll get Okada/Naito at WK 14. I get that Naito fans are tired of waiting, and I agree that his path since losing at WK this year has been somewhat unfocused, but I don't think that equates to being given "nothing interesting to do in the meantime". I quite enjoyed his programs with Taichi, Suzuki, and Jericho, but people seemed to be upset that he went back to the IC title, which they think he's above now. Was Nakamura above the IC title in 2014 and 2015 when he was arguably the most popular guy in the company? I understand that the IC title is considered lower than the IWGP title in terms of importance, but the IC champion still headlines plenty of shows and gets many opportunities for big time singles matches.

I've been using Marvel Unlimited the last few weeks to read through late-80's X-Men. So far I've read every issue of Uncanny, New Mutants, and X-Factor from the Mutant Massacre to where I'm at now, which is somewhere in 1990 (currently about to read Uncanny #260). Been using this to guide me in my journey: http://www.comicsbackissues.com/comic-book-reading-order/x-men-read-order-chronology/ I'm young enough to have grown up with the X-Men Animated Series, and have been a fan of the franchise ever since. I've read a ton of the comics over the years, but mostly from 2000-onward and Claremont's classic stuff from the 70's and early 80's. I've read scattered issues from the late-80's before, but this is my first time reading through all the issues from this era in order. This has really reminded me how awesome big event crossovers can be when they're actually, like, well written and planned out. Because that whole span across the three titles in that 3 year stretch from Mutant Massacre to Inferno is just full of great storytelling. And each of the three bookending events feel natural and earned, with the Mutant Massacre being a catalyst for everything and directly leading to the events of Fall of the Mutants and subsequently Inferno. Inferno especially was really satisfying, just for how much payoff it had for storylines that were set up years back, like the X-Men and X-Factor finally reunited after being apart and unaware of each other's existence for so long, Illyana Limbo storyline, and Madelyn Pryor's journey to villainy, which I think is one of the most effective and believable heel-turns I've probably ever read in a superhero comic. I've just recently met Jubilee for the first time in Uncanny, and Cable is right around the corner in New Mutants, which means the 90's are truly upon me. Again, I've read scattered issues and a few of the big storylines of 90's X-Men, but this'll be my first time reading through everything. I'm weirdly looking forward to it. The 90's for comics get a bad rap in general, and specifically it's considered the era where the X-Men franchise really lost its way, but I'm looking forward to seeing if that opinion still holds up, and to see where the dropoff in quality really starts. Some claim it's right after Claremont left, while others defend the Lobdell and Nicieza runs and say it only really starts to get bad in the latter half of the decade with the likes of Onslaught and Zero Tolerance. I have a weird fondness for 90's superhero comic art and aesthetic too, so that will help make it more enjoyable.

So after last night's results, it seems that Ibushi's chance of making it to the finals have been significantly lowered. Much like Okada in the A block depending on the result to the White/EVIL match for his chance to advance, Ibushi needs Zack to beat Naito, otherwise he'll be eliminated from finals contention before his match with Omega starts. I really thought they'd keep it so Naito needed Ibushi/Omega to draw in order to advance. Makes me think Naito might just be winning the whole thing for the 2nd year in a row, an outcome I was almost positive wasn't happening just yesterday. But the story would make sense: Naito wins G1 again and beats Omega in the WK main event, holds the title for a year, then faces next year's G1 winner Okada at WK 14 in 2020, when the show is on the weekend in hopes of potentially selling out the Dome (maybe with Ibushi/Omega in the semi-main spot).

It's interesting seeing the variance in opinions on Elgin throughout the online wrestling community. Most people here are clearly not fans, then you have the guys on the Purocast calling him one of the top 5 performers in the tournament so far. I'm somewhere in the middle, though I do lean towards generally liking his ring work. I've really enjoyed his matches vs. EVIL, Page, White, and Okada in this tournament. Crazy to think it's his 4th G1 in a row. As for the tournament as a whole, I think it's been absolutely awesome. It helps that New Japan is easily my favorite current promotion and I'm super invested in the storylines and characters, but I honestly think these G1s get better ever year. So many great matches already, and I'm not even fully caught up. The final three nights in Budokan are gonna be nuts. I love the booking of this years tournament. The last few years (with the exception of maybe Omega in 2016) the winners have been pretty predictable. But now we still have 3 guys in each block still in contention (Tanahashi, Okada, and Jay White for A block, Ibushi, Naito, and Omega for B block), and I really have no idea who making it to the finals. Any combination of those 6 guys seem plausible to me, except for maybe Okada/Naito, which I don't think they'll give away for a show that's already sold-out. The possibilities of the A block really intrigue me. If EVIL spoils Jay White, you have the really great story of Okada needing to beat Tanahashi in less than 30 minutes to advance, something he hasn't done since their first title match way back at New Beginning 2012. Or you have White beat EVIL, and Okada has no chance to advance but beating Tanahashi means White advances. Okada is my favorite wrestler, so I'm always rooting for him to win, but I think it would be pretty awesome seeing Jay White in the finals against any of those three B block guys. Jay has huge heat as a heel to the Japanese crowds, and putting him vs. Ibushi, Naito, or Omega means the crowd will be completely against him. That match would have some mega heat in front of the sold-out Budokan crowd, with everyone booing the shit out of Switchblade and cheering whoever he faces.

I think New Japan only puts that belt on people who they perceive as draws in Japan, because no matter what time of year it is there's always at least one big show being headlined by the top belt. Cody is treated as a star there, and I think he's done a good job of getting himself over as a heel to the Japanese audience, but he's not a draw there the way Omega and Jericho are, or Styles was. I believe the company sees Cody primarily as a means of expanding in the US, where he is legitimately one of the biggest non-WWE stars on the scene. He doesn't need the top belt to help them grow in the States, especially not when they have other gaijin stars like Kenny, White, Juice, and Sabre who are actually signed to the company full time and are more over with the Japanese crowds than Cody is. I'd say he's a no-brainer as a future United States Champion though, maybe even being the one to beat Juice to garner some heat.

Omega, Ibushi, and Okada are Cody's only singles losses in New Japan. He has singles wins over Juice, Finlay, Elgin, Rocky Romero, and Ibushi in the WK rematch from Dontaku this year, all those in New Japan proper. He's beaten Ospreay, SANADA, Liger, and Hiromu on ROH crossover shows in the U.S.

I don't disagree with this point in general, but I think for this match in particular they did a great job of building up the Triangle for Hiromu and the Crossface for Ishimori. Both guys had been getting wins with those moves throughout the tournament. Just one night previous to this match Ishimori tapped out YOH and Hiromu tapped out KUSHIDA. I think knowledge of that helped me and the crowd buy into those submission spots as potential finishes.

The Best of the Super Juniors final match between Hiromu and Ishimori was tremendous, and probably my favorite junior heavyweight match since last year's KUSHIDA/Ospreay final. Hiromu is so good. He's excellent at filling his matches with hate, intensity, and danger, along with his stellar repertoire of brilliantly executed moves. And even when his execution somewhat falters, like the botched reverse frankensteiner in this match, it just adds to that overall sense of danger that Hiromu embodies. Ishimori was great in his role, and pulled out some awsome stuff while showing off really impressive cardio (the pace was quite fast throughout for a 34 minute match), but Hiromu was the star. That Korakuen Hall crowd was completely electric all throughout as well, and really added to the match. Hiromu is so incredibly over, and at one point during a really effective submission the female fans in the building were quite audibly shrieking in worry of his well-being. It was also cool to see the ovation that Ishimori got after the match too, showing that even though the fans were rooting for Hiromu, they still greatly appreciate Taiji's amazing performance and are happy to see him as part of the New Japan roster. Between this classic of a final and his block matches with Scurll, Desparado, Dragon Lee, SHO, and KUSHIDA, I think Hiromu was far and away the MVP for this tournament.

I was really bummed when I saw DBS Jr. didn't get a spot. Although like you say, not sure who I'd replace for him. Super happy that Kojima is in this year. Tenzan's final run last year was good, but I like Kojima more so I was gutted when he gave away his spot. And now there's a lot of potential matchups for him that are either completely fresh, or haven't been run in at least 2 years.

The G1 Climax participants have been announced: Kazuchika Okada Hiroshi Tanahashi Tetsuya Naito Kenny Omega Minoru Suzuki Michael Elgin Hirooki Goto Tomohiro Ishii Yuji Nagata Back Luck Fale Togi Makabe EVIL SANADA YOSHI-HASHI Satoshi Kojima Tama Tonga Toru Yano Juice Robinson Zack Sabre Jr. Kota Ibushi

The GIF in question was in the first minute of the match. I understand not liking the spot, but the complaint I've seen around Twitter and other such places that they're not trying to win the match there seems really silly to me, especially if you watch the whole match and see that they spend the next ~15 minutes throwing everything they have at the other guy to try and put him away.