superkix

Yes to Naito/Tanahashi. I need to rewatch this in a couple of months Naito was excellent against Tanahashi's aging ace. Some really smart work. Yes to Strong BJ/Twin Towers. Same formula as their previous match-ups but with a touch more brutality and some great selling from Sekimoto.

Taken from my blog.

Okabayashi vs. Kamitani (7/24/16) sits comfortably in my top 3 matches of 2016.

Check out Shibata's match with Akiyama from Wrestle-1. Also, I think Shibata's match against Kojima from last year was probably his best NEVER title defense.

If Shibata doesn't win the G1 this year, I'd be shocked. Well, not really, but I do think he'll get an IWGP Heavyweight title shot this year for sure. He's over with the fans, he's won back the respect of the NJ dads, I think his "punishment" was his NEVER title reign last year and served as his proving grounds. Jay White's a good call when he comes back, I think he'll get a significant push. Sanada definitely fits the ace mold and I could see them milking a Naito/Sanada feud at some point. Not sure what's happening with Kyle O'Reilly but if he stays with NJ, I'd expect him to be involved with the midcard/upper midcard heavyweights. Komatsu/Tanaka will likely stay with the juniors when they come back from excursion although I could see Kanemitsu going heavyweight depending on if he can get healthy.

Shibata works like a rabid dog. It's such an adrenaline-frenzied way of working that his "no selling" doesn't bother me and I think his long-term selling pays off in the end after all the shit he's endured catches up with him. The W1 Akiyama match is a perfect example of that. I thought this match was great, the only one that had me hooked in from start to finish. I don't get too excited by Goto and I think he was decent to good for most of the match but they built heat and escalated the violence in a believable way that by the finish, he looked really strong and pissed off. Shibata's selling and facials were terrific down the stretch and made Goto look even more dominant coming out as champ.

also, if you guys have any match recommendations for weird/unique/undervalued matches from Japan, let us know and we'll review it for the show.

The BS boys are back together and joined by VOW's Dylan Justin (@dylanjx4) to say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017. We start by briefly discussing the absolutely fantastic DDT/BJW/AJPW/W-1/K-Dojo tag shuffle tournament by looking at highlights of the show, our favorite teams, and a great main event. We then countdown our admittedly confusing lists of our top 5 favorite things in the world of indie puro in 2016, before sharing what we're excited about in 2017. This a fun show and a great way to close out the holiday season. Audio Boom: Burning Spirits #11 VOW: Burning Spirits #11

One of my favorite Japanese tag matches of the year but perhaps more importantly, it served as a great plaform for Nomura to showcase what he's learned over the past year. His selling was fantastic for his experience level, from his facials to the desperation in his strikes. He does a lot of little things in his matches that guys who have been wrestling 10-15 years still don't get. Suzuki rules. One of things I love about Suzuki, and it showed in his early exchange with Ishikawa, is the way he's continually moving, not allowing Ishikawa a solid grip, but shifting around and feeling for a weakness or an opening. Twin Towers are the best bully tag team in Japan and Nomura not backing down from them was a lot of fun to watch, especially in his interactions with Ishikawa. The final confrontation between Nomura and Sato was really neat, as Nomura unloads on Sato with everything he has, kicking him harder and harder, his eyes wild as he's thinking "damn, how hard do I have to kick him?" before Sato finally collapses with his spasmodic selling. Loved this.

This is one of Uto's better singles matches. It helps that Okabayashi works really well with the young guys, giving them plenty of offense and always selling well. A very simple but well-executed match. The opening is your standard hoss smash-and-chop but once Uto sends Okabayashi to the outside and Yuji lariats the ringpost, Uto makes Yuji work hard to get back on top. He works the arm and uses the injury to his advantage to squash Yuji's momentum builds. They bounce off each other with lariats but Yuji isn't using his strong arm so Uto is able to take him down with a reverse armbar. Loved the finish, with Uto booting the injured arm of Yuji on the lariat attempt, forcing Yuji to stun him with his right arm before killing him with the strong arm lariat. Fun, easy breezy watch.

Konosuke Takeshita had a breakout year in 2016 and has improved so much from his January KO-D Openweight challenge against Kodaka, which was a really good match. This match is red hot right out of the gate, with Takeshita emptying the tank and tapping into his reserves in an attempt to hang onto the title. He's become such a good selling, whether it's the back that Ishikawa was working or the physical exhaustion of going toe-to-toe with Ishikawa. Toward the end, you can see Takeshita's desperation bleeding through into his strikes, to a point where he just starts punching Ishikawa in the face. Great finish, with both guys dog-tired but still slugging away, having poured out everything into this match. Hard-hitting from bell to bell with very little downtime.

Shibata's facials were great. Loved the zombie-fied look on his face after that final Goto headbutt.

Shibata/Goto was good. The only match I was hooked into from bell to bell. It felt fresh - they didn't retread the same old territory. Goto looked re-energized and pissed off, and the finishing stretch felt meaningful, making Goto look like a badass.

This is a mixed bag of nuts. I buy that these two just want to fuck each other up and see who’s got the bigger dick, and I’m totally okay with that formula if it’s done in a convincing and entertaining way way. Both of these guys busted their asses out there, the crowd was hot for it, and everything looked brutal. The story was simple enough, that Ishii can absorb pain like no other so Shibata’s goal is to make him feel as much pain as possible. Ishii’s such a great seller at times, especially in the way he collapses after that elbow shot. The blatant no selling is what it is and it feels like the ramifications for all the heavy offense is very little but I did like the payoff of both guys crumbling after the sustained damage takes its toll, with that great visual of an exhausted Ishii spitting out his mouthpiece. There was no control in the match, with one guy staying on top for a short time before the tide turns. And a lot of that brutal offense felt meaningless -- like they were trying to do too much to the point where you become desensitized to how nasty things get. The headbutts were absolutely nasty for the sake of being nasty but they don’t really have a major effect on the outcome of the match itself. Shibata took a couple of big lariats from Ishii and they went through the finish as planned. I remember liking the rematch from February a bit more than this but I’ll have to rewatch that one again soon.

This was a massive match backed by a red-hot crowd and they somehow managed to pull it off. There were a couple of questionable decisions but ultimately, they are minor nitpicks and don’t take away from the quality of the match. Most of the decisions and execution of moves were made with a sense of purpose, the “downtime” added to the larger narrative, and the nearfalls felt huge, especially that Destino counter to the One-Winged Angel. Both guys sold great in their own ways; Omega the more physical of the two and Naito with his awesome “I am dying inside” facials. While I’m not the biggest Omega apologist, I thought he was a little less cartoon-ish here. The desperation to finish off Naito was compelling, the build and struggle to hit the One-Winged Angel, the fight for the ropes during the leglock. Naito’s reaction to Omega hurting himself on the German suplex landing was priceless. Naito’s just so good in that nonchalant greaser role. On first watch, I felt this thing was a little too bombastic but after watching it second time, this was a well-executed spectacle that few guys can pull off so neatly.

I recently re-watched Shibata's BML work and yeah, it's not the most compelling stuff. I think my favorite match was against Nakajima.

Re-watched this last night and it's definitely lost some of its luster. it had a brutally great finish, with Ishikawa laying into Kamitani with everything he has and Kamitani still not dying. That running knee after the dragon suplex looked killer! And I loved Kamitani’s desperation in the end with those final slaps before he eats Ishikawa’s Rainmaker-style headbutt. But Ishikawa didn’t feel like a big enough danger. He’s at his best when he’s bullying around the younger guys but he was working from underneath for a good chunk of the match, and Kamitani isn’t really opposing enough on offense to carry the match. He’s so much more interesting working as the baby-faced underdog who sells his beating with tears in his eyes. Ishikawa manhandling him on the outside was fun but the back work was wasted and the build to the finish was too flip-floppy. Solid finish but everything else was kind of forgettable.

I really loved their 2/24 match and this felt like the perfect companion piece. It don't know if it was necessarily a superior match, because Nakajima is playing a much different role here, but I think it worked as a closing chapter. Nakajima is no longer the spunky, baby-faced underdog, but at the top of the promotion and full of confidence. The legwork here wasn't quite as central to the story as the 2/24 match but Suzuki's focus was on point and I liked him jumping (literally) at the opportunity to attack the leg. Both guys sold very well and there was a good callback to their previous match when Nakajima high kicks Suzuki in the head, seemingly KO'ing, and he can't even lift him up to finish him off. Suzuki trolling him with that evil grin made the finish extra special, as he gets the one up on Nakajima with a barrage of strikes and a couple of straight punches to the face, but when he calls for troops, nobody answers and he's freaking out. That final elbow exchange was sold so beautifully by Suzuki, as his elbows slowed to the point where he's just tapping Nakajima before Nakajima lays him out. But being the big bad dragon at back of the cave, Suzuki won't be slayed so easily and it takes another high kick and brainbuster combo to put the nail in the coffin. I think I still prefer the 2/24 because they played those roles so perfectly but this is a great bookend match. Edit: Obviously Takashi Sugiura should be Minoru Suzuki.

He has a podcast? I assumed English wasn't his first language.

I've always thought of "strong style" as shoot-style with the added rush of "fighting spirit". But I don't know if it was defined outside of Inoki wanting to showcase pro-wrestling as a legitimate form of martial arts.

I dont see this with my watching at all. So many guys wrestle strong style in Japan. Loads. A trend lasts 2-5 years. Strong style has lasted over 30. It's not a trend. It's growing in Japan. It's growing in Europe. Why do you think it's dead in Japan? What have you watched in Japan to give you that impression? Just curious , no intentions here. It's definitely not growing in Japan. I'd say Shibata is like the only active major player who still wrestles "strong style". Umm. I am just curious to what you been watching? Have been watching anything in the tag league this year? or the way Evil , Ishii , Kyle o Riley , Nagata , Kojima are working this style in a lot of the matches , juice robinsons work is becoming very much in this mold , the Never Open title Has been positioned around and the matches have been worked in this style for about two years now. Its dead in Japan? To the fans? The fans don't like it? Explain how they go nuts for the Shibata worked strong style match? I haven't watched the tag league but I've watched plenty of New Japan matches from this year. I'll give you Nagata, I'd say he worked more of a "strong style" than any of the other guys you mentioned. But in my opinion, guys like Ishii and Evil fit more into the "King's Road" style of offense. I don't know. It's all so bastardized now.

I dont see this with my watching at all. So many guys wrestle strong style in Japan. Loads. A trend lasts 2-5 years. Strong style has lasted over 30. It's not a trend. It's growing in Japan. It's growing in Europe. Why do you think it's dead in Japan? What have you watched in Japan to give you that impression? Just curious , no intentions here. It's definitely not growing in Japan. I'd say Shibata is like the only active major player who still wrestles "strong style".

Hardly anyone in Japan wrestles "strong style" anymore. It's more or less dead as the general trend in Japan seems to be moving more and more toward "sports entertainment".

Forgot the date on this. In short, this is an awesome pissing contest. Shibata's one of the best brawlers in Japan today and a pissed off Akiyama is always a joy tow atch. I loved the ref trying to do everything he can to stop Shibata from going after Jun. Akiyama's desperate strikes were really good, literraly throwing himself at Shibata, and I liked the neck stuff building to the finish. I didn't have a problem with the toukon rush. I thought it fit well here and I liked that Shibata was working in such an adrenaline-frenzied way that it takes a couple of head-drop Exploders to really faze him.

Awesome performance from Mr. Gannosuke, who showed tons of energy and hustle throughout, great old man armwork, and a hot finish. Daisuke was good here, too, with decent selling and a fun callback to his earlier work in the match. I could watch Gannosuke work the arm all day with his grinding elbows and finger manipulation. I loved him pulling Daisuke's elbow pad off and tossing it into the crowd before kicking the arm and delivering those running armbreakers. Relentless work from the vet. He does a good job of cutting Daisuke's comebacks short, going back to the arm to escape predicaments and at one point countering the sliding elbow and hitting another pair of running armbreakers before forcing Daisuke back down to the mat with the wakigatame, really putting his weight into it. Probably my favorite match out of GUTS World this year.