superkix

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.

A pretty good Shibata punishment match. I really liked Fujita's hope spots and the way he kept right on top of Shibata, transitioning from move to move in accordance with Shibata's actions. For example, when Shibata struggles against a sleeper, Fujita German suplexes him and goes back to the sleeper. When Shibata gets too close to the ropes, Fujita backdrops him on his head and applies the hanging front necklock. Again, when Shibata fights it off, Fujita DDTs him and re-applies it on the ground. Fun stuff. In the end, Shibata kills him with a powerbomb before tapping him quickly with the crab hold.

Tamura vs. Bob Sapp is something that would've happened in UWFi.

This was the best opener I've seen all year, condensed and brutal, with a red hot crowd. They didn't waste any of time they were given, going full steam right out of the gate. Okabayashi hits Ishikawa so hard with a shoulderblock, his mouthpiece flies out. In addition to dealing it out, Strong BJ really know how to sell a beating, especially Sekimoto, who took the brunt of the punishment with some nasty headbutts, elbows, and kicks. Love the spot where Sekimoto is taking elbow shots from Sato and just hauls back and levels him with a short-arm lariat. This match also had one of the best colliding lariats spots I've seen in recent memory and some fun, hard-hitting double teams. Can't ask for a better way to kick off the show then letting these four guys go out there and beat the snot out of each other. Classic BJ.

I was thinking somewhere around 30 guys to compare with NJ. Heavyweights: Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH) Go Shiozaki (NOAH) Masa Kitamiya (NOAH) Davey Boy Smith Jr. (NOAH) Lance Archer (NOAH) Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH) Manabu Soya (W-1) Jun Akiyama (AJPW) Kento Miyahara (AJPW) Zeus (AJPW) Suwama (AJPW) Joe Doering (AJPW – if he returns) Naoya Nomura (AJPW) Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW) Hideki Suzuki (Free) Minoru Suzuki (Free) Jr. Heavyweights Hajime Ohara (NOAH) Daisuke Harada (NOAH) Kenoh (NOAH) Taiji Ishimori (NOAH) Hiroshi Yamato (W-1) Kotaro Suzuki (W-1) Seika Yoshiaka (W-1) Jiro Kuroshio (W-1) Atsushi Aoki (AJPW) Hikaru Sato (AJPW) Tatsuhiko Yoshino (Free) Kazuhiro Tamura (Free) Koji Iwamoto (Free) This is also assuming AJPW keeps their open working relationships with BJW/DDT/K-DOJO to bring in some of those guys for shows.

I was thinking about this the other day in terms of Japanese promotions, with the idea of re-building AJPW by scraping what's left of NOAH and W-1 and picking up some freelancers floating around Japan.

Amazing!

Grump Akiyama was wonderful in this. Soya thinks he can just waltz back into All Japan and Akiyama destroys him. Some brutal knees, kicks, and armwork from Akiyama, who does such a good job at exploiting Soya's weakness and going to the arm after a two count. Soya is whatever here, just fodder for Akiyama's ass-whipping. Loved Akiyama's jumping knee counter to the diving lariat. After a ton of nasty knees toward the end, Akiyama hits the Exploder and when Soya gets the shoulder up at two, Akiyama grabs him and forces him into a seated armlock for the submission. Really enjoyed this display from Akiyama.

Well, we've reached the finish line and in the end, I felt the biggest challenge to Punk was Katsuyori Shibata. Punk trying to tap into his MMA wellspring to try and defeat the more experienced fighter but one mistake cost Punk the match, as Shibata was able to secure the choke sleeper for the submission. A well-deserved victory for a guy who has really busted his ass for New Japan since returning. A loss for Punk doesn't hurt him in the long run but helps cement Shibata as a top guy. NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/13/17) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 10,210 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House 6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta beat Jado & Gedo (14:38) when Baretta used the Dudebuster on Gedo. 7. GHC Heavyweight Title Prelude: GOTO & EVIL beat Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki (12:50) when GOTO used to the GO TO HELL on Shiozaki. 8. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: KAMAITACHI beat Will Ospreay © (17:21) with the Mexican Destroyer to become the 77th champion. 9. G1 Climax - Final: Katsuyori Shibata beat CM Punk (21:42) with a choke sleeper to win G1 Climax 27.

NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/11/17) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 6,600 Fans – No Vacancy 5. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [16] beat Tomoaki Honma [0] (8:22) with the PK. 6. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [12] beat Kazuchika Okada [12] (15:50) with the Koji Cutter. 7. G1 Climax – Block A: EVIL [8] beat Kyle O’Reilly [4] (11:12) with the EVIL. 8. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [12] beat Michael Elgin [6] (12:37) with the brainbuster. 9. G1 Climax – Block A: GOTO [10] beat Katsuhiko Nakajima [10] (16:42) with the Shoryu Kekkai. Notes: - Katsuyori Shibata secures his place in the G1 Climax Final after a quick victory over the winless Tomoaki Honma. - Kojima's feel good G1 run ended today with a huge win over Kazcuhika Okada. He thanked the fans for their support. - After GOTO defeated Nakajima, he challenged Nakajima to a GHC Heavyweight Title match. NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/12/17) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 7,480 Fans – Super No Vacancy 5. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [10] beat Togi Makabe [4] (10:10) with the backdrop hold. 6. G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA [10] beat Jay White [2] (8:34) with the Skull End. 7. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [10] beat YOSHI-HASHI [2] (9:23) with the High Fly Flow. 8. G1 Climax – Block B: CM Punk [16] beat KUSHIDA [11] (17:46) with the arm triangle choke. 9. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [14] beat Kenny Omega [11] (16:59) with the Destino. Notes: - CM Punk beat KUSHIDA in impressive fashion, earning his place in the final against Shibata. KUSHIDA had the support of the fans and at one point, had Punk in the Hoverboard Lock. - Naito/Omega may not have put on the all-out spectacle from the year before but it was a much tighter match in terms of progression. Here's the final card (well, the important matches at least). NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/13/17) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 6. IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles: Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta © vs. Jado & Gedo 7. GHC Heavyweight Title Prelude: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki vs. GOTO & EVIL 8. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay vs. KAMAITACHI 9. G1 Climax – Final: Katsuyori Shibata vs. CM Punk

NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/7/17) Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium 4,120 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 5. G1 Climax – Block A: Michael Elgin [6] beat GOTO [8] (11:57) with the Elgin Bomb. 6. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuhiko Nakajima [10] beat Tomoaki Honma [0] (9:23) with a ankle hold. 7. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [10] beat Kyle O’Reilly [4] (10:42) with a lariat. 8. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [14] beat EVIL [6] (14:11) with the PK. 9. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [12] beat Tomohiro Ishii [10] (16:38) with the Rainmaker. Notes: - A solid night from top to bottom, with Okada/Ishii again wow'ing. Okada could make it to the finals if Shibata loses on 8/11, having a win over Shibata already. NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/9/17) Yamagata City General Sports Center 2,210 Fans – No Vacancy 5. G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA [8] beat KUSHIDA [11] (14:23) with the Skull End. 6. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [8] beat Jay White [2] (9:56) with the backdrop hold. 7. G1 Climax – Block B: Togi Makabe [4] beat YOSHI-HASHI [2] (8:45) with the King Kong Lariat. 8. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [12] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] (15:43) with the Destino. 9. G1 Climax – Block B: CM Punk [14] beat Kenny Omega [11] (18:12) with the GTS. Notes: - SANADA's big win upsets KUSHIDA's chance at reaching the finals. - The main event was something else, with Omega being forced to work Punk's style. Punk's hard-fought victory almost seals the deal for him, although he has to get past KUSHIDA on 8/12. Current Standings A Block 1. Katsuyori Shibata [14] 2. Kazuchika Okada [12] 3. Tomohiro Ishii [10] - Katsuhiko Nakajima [10] - Satoshi Kojima [10] 4. GOTO [8] 5. EVIL [6] - Michael Elgin [6] 6. Kyle O'Reilly [4] 7. Tomoaki Honma [0] B Block 1. CM Punk [14] 2. Tetsuya Naito [12] 3. KUSHIDA [11] - Kenny Omega [11] 4. SANADA [8] - Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] - Yuji Nagata [8] 5. Togi Makabe [4] 6. YOSHI-HASHI [2] - Jay White [2]

NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/5/17) Osaka Edion Arena 5,275 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 5. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [8] beat EVIL [6] (10:32) with the Koji Cutter. 6. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [10] beat Tomoaki Honma [0] (8:41) with the Rainmaker. 7. G1 Climax – Block A: Kyle O’Reilly [4] beat Michael Elgin [4] (14:56) with the cross armbreaker. 8. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuhiko Nakajima [8] beat Tomohiro Ishii [10] (12:32) with a top-rope brainbuster. 9. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [12] beat GOTO [8] (17:32) with the PK. Notes: - Nakajima/Ishii was the match of the night, possibly of the tournament so far depending on who you ask. Nakajima was clearly the heel of this but still fought back to win in grand style. NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/6/17) Shizuoka Act City 3,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 5. G1 Climax – Block B: KUSHIDA [11] beat Togi Makabe [2] (10:13) with the Midnight Express. 6. G1 Climax – Block B: CM Punk [12] beat YOSHI-HASHI [2] (9:16) with the GTS. 7. G1 Climax – Block B: Kenny Omega [11] beat Jay White [2] (11:32) with the One-Winged Angel. 8. G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA [6] beat Tetsuya Naito [10] (5:03) with a Destino Cutback-Cradle. 9. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [6] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] (17:24) with a backdrop hold. Notes: - Tetsuya Naito's G1 hopes may have been crushed as SANADA scored the upset victory when he countered the Destino attempt. Naito slapped him after the match. - Nagata also scored a big win over Tanahashi with the crowd cheering him on. The two embraced after the match. Current Standings A Block 1. Katsuyori Shibata [12] 2 Tomohiro Ishii [10] - Kazuchika Okada [10] 3. Katsuhiko Nakajima [8] - GOTO [8] - Satoshi Kojima [8] - EVIL [6] 4. Michael Elgin [4] - Kyle O'Reilly [4] 5. Tomoaki Honma [0] B Block 1. CM Punk [12] 2. KUSHIDA [11] - Kenny Omega [11] 3. Tetsuya Naito [10] 4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] 5. Yuji Nagata [6] - SANADA [6] 6. Togi Makabe [2] - YOSHI-HASHI [2] - Jay White [2]

NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/2/17) Kagoshima Arena 3,275 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 5. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuhiko Nakajima [6] beat EVIL [6] (12:09) with a high kick. 6. G1 Climax – Block A: Michael Elgin [4] beat Tomoaki Honma [0] (8:26) with the Elgin Bomb. 7. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [10] beat Kyle O’Reilly [2] (11:31) with a brainbuster. 8. G1 Climax – Block A: GOTO [8] beat Satoshi Kojima [6] (13:12) with the Shouten Kai. 9. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [8] beat Katsuyori Shibata [10] (18:47) with the Rainmaker. Notes: - Nakajima was attacked by SANADA after his match with EVIL. - Tomohiro Ishii is now tied with Shibata, who suffered his first loss in the tournament to Kazuchika Okada in the match of the night. Both Okada and GOTO are right on their heels. NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (8/3/17) Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium 2,612 Fans – Super No Vacancy 5. G1 Climax – Block B: Kenny Omega [9] beat Yuji Nagata [4] (12:08) with the V-Trigger. 6. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [10] beat Jay White [2] (9:21) with the Destino. 7. G1 Climax – Block B: KUSHIDA [9] beat YOSHI-HASHI [2] (8:34) with the Hoverboard Lock. 8. G1 Climax – Block B: CM Punk [10] beat Togi Makabe [2] (11:59) with the arm triangle choke. 9. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] beat SANADA [4] (16:12) with the cloverleaf hold. Notes: - Easily the weakest night for Block B thus far in the tournament, with the highlight being Tanahashi/SANADA in a spotty "ace" style match or depending on tastes, KUSHIDA/YOSHI-HASHI for it's go-go-go action. Current Standings A Block 1. Katsuyori Shibata [10] - Tomohiro Ishii [10] 2. Kazuchika Okada [8] - GOTO [8] 3. Katsuhiko Nakajima [6] - Satoshi Kojima [6] - EVIL [6] 4. Michael Elgin [4] 5. Kyle O'Reilly [2] 6. Tomoaki Honma [0] B Block 1. Tetsuya Naito [10] - CM Punk [10] 2. KUSHIDA [9] - Kenny Omega [9] 3. Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] 4. Yuji Nagata [4] - SANADA [4] 5. Togi Makabe [2] - YOSHI-HASHI [2] - Jay White [2]

His presence in the current NJ/NOAH feud would have been a much welcomed addition.

NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (7/30/17) Gifu Industrial Hall 2,585 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 5. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [6] beat Katsuhiko Nakajima [4] (14:54) with a lariat. 6. G1 Climax – Block A: EVIL [6] beat Tomoaki Honma [0] (9:22) with the EVIL. 7. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [6] beat Kyle O’Reilly [2] (11:38) with the Rainmaker. 8. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [10] beat Michael Elgin [2] (12:51) with the PK. 9. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [8] beat GOTO [6] (18:02) with a brainbuster. Notes: - Kojima continues his emotional run with a big win over Nakajima following a nasty lariat. He told the fans after the match that he won't let the pillars of New Japan crumble and fall. - Shibata is still undefeated in the tournament, saying post-match that he wouldn't stop his hunt until he had Naito in his crosshairs. NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 27" (7/31/17) Takamatsu City General Gymnasium 2,150 Fans 5. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [4] beat KUSHIDA [7] (13:07) with a backdrop hold. 6. G1 Climax – Block B: Jay White [2] beat YOSHI-HASHI [2] (10:18) with the Kiwi Driver. 7. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] beat Togi Makabe [2] (12:34) with a cloverleaf hold. 8. G1 Climax – Block B: Kenny Omega [7] beat SANADA [4] (14:20) with the One-Winged Angel. 9. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [8] beat CM Punk [8] (18:49) with the Destino. Notes: - Lots of big news coming off the show, with Nagata "upsetting" KUSHIDA in the opening match and Jay White picking up his first win over YOSHI-HASHI. The undefeated CM Punk suffered his first defeat at the hands of IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tetsuya Naito, who needed a little Los Ingobernables shenanigans to turn the tide in his favor. Current Standings A Block 1. Katsuyori Shibata [10] 2. Tomohiro Ishii [8] 3. Satoshi Kojima [6] - Kazuchika Okada [6] - EVIL [6] - GOTO [6] 4. Katsuhiko Nakajima [4] 5. Michael Elgin [2] - Kyle O'Reilly [2] 6. Tomoaki Honma [0] B Block 1. Tetsuya Naito [8] - CM Punk [8] 2. KUSHIDA [7] - Kenny Omega [7] 3. Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] 4. Yuji Nagata [4] - SANADA [4] 5. Togi Makabe [2] - YOSHI-HASHI [2] - Jay White [2]