G. Badger

25th Anniversary of this all time classic match! One of the best finishes of AJPW

All of those promotions available on the WWE network are the best part. Unfortunately, I never had the discipline to focus on a single promotion or year when I had the service. I just pinballed all over the place until my free month ran out. If you or anyone knows offhand, how far back does their their AWA footage go?

The last sentence of your post is exactly the conclusion that I came to a few years ago. My 5 star match may be another person's 4.5 but, we would both agree that the match is a must see. Frankly, even if my 5 is a person's 4, we'd both recommend the heck outta it. But, the details are really where someone would be able to tell that I liked it more and why. As long as folks are putting an explanation behind their stars/numbers then, I'm OK with it. I can then go, "Ah, their 4 3/4 is like a 3 3/4 to me." I think some discrepancies may be from folks not going back and seeing the classics from the 80s & 90s. There seems to be less talk of these matches nowadays. Plus, if there's a "4 1/2 - 5 star" match coming out every month, why take the time to go back and watch that stuff?

In addition to the new title formats for topics in the MDA, could you have a guideline for tags? They are really useful but, I see them used inconsistently for a lot of newer posts. They are a great way to search for things and discover new matches/ideas but, I feel like we're missing a big chunk of information with the tag system when folks don't use it. Plus, if someone creates a new topic in a folder other than the current month's, there's a good chance no one is going to see it after a few days unless, someone just happens to come across it. This is especially true for more densely populated folders. Requiring the major participants' names and promotion to be tagged in new MDA posts would be nice. Thanks

I disagree about the in ring aspects of this match. The story aspects may very well be true. However, this was dry, mechanical, and charmless. The match only felt truly intense during the first & last few minutes. The middle (majority) of the fight felt perfunctory to me and frankly even to Marufuji & Sugiura. Moves alone- this was interesting but, without proper timing and emotion, it just was boring and a little clumsy. Marufuji & Sugiura looked bored as well. So did the crowd. I really enjoyed the heck outta 'Fuji's Champion Carnival cruise in AJ this year but, this was just OK. Probably not worth spending time on this...I don't want to say flat out skip this but...don't get your hopes up.

NJPW has this up on their YouTube channel for the week in honor of Saito's passing. It is in pristine video quality compared to that oh so lovely 90's VHS grained out look. But, if you're coming to this in the future, don't worry! I'm positive that the old version will be great as well. Speaking of greatness, l could tell that this was going to be a fantastic encounter from the very first collar-and-elbow! Oh man! Take note current wrestlers, THIS is how you tie up! The match was a fine example of how to create drama and excitement without running through moves. The holds were credible and meaningful towards the outcome of the fight. Their strikes were stiff yet, measured. Larry & Mr. Saito used their body language (and actual language in Lar's case) to convey athleticism, desperation, and that killer instinct. This was a great match. Thank you Mr. Saito!

So, this little project came about by searching for Tanaka vs Makabe matches on YouTube. How I got to that is a bit of a mystery. If I had to guess, I'd say it was out of curiosity alone. I don't think I found a singles encounter on the 'tube. However, there was a crap ton of tags available. Investigation revealed that a whole chunk of house show matches from the Fall of 2010 were recorded and uploaded by NJPW. These matches show some of the early battles between NJ main roster & CHAOS. CHAOS is or perhaps was one of the most popular stables but, it is a splinter group from Togi Makabe (Tenzan was originally leader) Great Bash Heel (Great Big Head, Grievous Bodily Harm or GBH) group. Nakamura staged a coup (he was an outsider who agitated the GBH members) and ousted Makabe (Honma sided with Makabe). So here we see an alliance of Makabe with Tanahashi and Hirooki Goto to combat Nakamura and his group of badasses. This begins about right after when Togi Makabe wins the IWGP Heavyweight title in May 2010. This series of matches reminds me of 1996 Michinoku Pro or 1990 AJPW tag matches. We have roughly the same parties for each encounter but, its exciting and interesting every time. Or at least to me I'll list full names as they first appear but, will use last names after that. Let's do the wrestling!!! Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Hirooki Goto, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue vs Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi (05/08/10): 10 man fight, alrighty then! This could be a mess but, everyone really clicks and no interactions overstay their welcome. Inoue really shines in this match. That maybe surprising since he's been off most fans radars since day one but, he brings it here. He's the Kikuchi on the NJ squad. A very excellent start where we learn that anyone can lose and anything can end it. Again, very M-Pro like or lucha like. Highly recommended Tanahashi, Makabe & Goto vs Nakamura, Tanaka & Ishii (09/04/10): Seemingly an upgrade but, a hair below the previous match in quality. It should be checked out nonetheless. Goto & Nakamura get into a mat scramble that leads to them fighting after a tag. The ref has to break them up and Shinsuke spits at Goto's feet. Very nasty stuff. Also, Takahashi and Nakamura's work together was subtle but very good. It reminded me of Misawa and Kawada in their 6 man matches. The work was organic to the point where it was understood that this was only one battle in a much larger war. So, Nakamura really excelled here but, Makabe the champ did as well. When he came in like a fucking berserker at the end, I was loving it! He sure as hell looked like the World Champ to me. 14 minutes of great wrestling. Tanahashi & Makabe vs Tanaka & Satoshi Kojima (09/10/10): Not sure if Kojima is CHAOS affiliated here. There was some good action but, Kojima & Tanaka's bland knee focused offense hurt this match. Generally, predestrian match. There are a couple other Kojima matches that I avoided because of this one. Too bad because I do like Kojima but, I feel like he may have lost "it" by this point. Nakamura, Naito & Takahashi vs Tanahashi, Makabe & Goto (09/19/10): Naito was first introduced to me as part of No Limit with Takahashi on TNA when they were fighting Motorcity Machine Guns for the IWGP Jr. belts. That was cool that TNA was having Japanese talent on TV. That's how I first saw Tanahashi too. Anyhow, Jr. team are with Shinsuke tonight to take on the NJ A-Team. Tana works the crowd up from the start. I get the feeling that this is a smaller, less hardcore crowd as they're all very pro Tanahashi. He starts of with some nice wrestling with Naito but, we soon get Goto & Naka which leads to a slow Tanahashi babyface in danger segment. Now, the ACE is pretty darn good in peril but, this felt a bit more lethargic then the previous encounters. Again, I chalk it up to the venue/event/crowd size. Goto & Nakamura get back into it and that leads to the hot stretch to a finish portion. It's a recommended match as it stokes the feud's fire but, it's a little formulaic. Hey, the 90-92 Misawa/Jumbo 6 mans went there a few times too (Not that this is on THAT level) ;P Tanaka & Ishii vs Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (11/03/10): Wished we got some stuff from October but, maybe that was the Kojima stuff I skipped. Anyhow, this is from the G1 Tag League. There are some expected long strike exchanges that hurt the flow of the match but, this was a nice battle nonetheless. The real standout was Tanaka. He nearly beats the GBH remenants on his own and goes straight psycho-killer on the Unchained Gorilla Makabe on the floor. I'd highly recommend this match to Dangan fans for sure! Ok so now we get a little Jr. participation. I want to go in depth on this series at another date but, here is a little taste as it fits into the timeline very well. Inoue, Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt vs Nakamura, Naito & Davey Richards (11/19/10): Yup, Davey was in NJ for a year or two. I totally forgot about it but, thought it was a great move for him at the time. He really should have focused more on a career in Japan. That being said, this had good reason to be a train wreck as I'm wasn't confident in Davey's ability to work with the NJ natives. Sure, he had NOAH experience but, he usually was on a gaijin team. I was expecting some bungling but, nope! This was some fast paced magic. Davey was great yelling shit in English too Taguchi though...damn. 13 minutes of action. Naito, Takahashi & Richards vs Tanahashi, Taguchi & Devitt (11/27/10): Naito taking Tanahashi to the canvas and grappling is something to always I'll enjoy. Frankly, if Tanahashi scrapped the leg focus stuff and was a matworker like Osamu Nishimura yet threw in his highspots, I'd probably be a giant fan of his. That being said, his performance in this series has made me a bit of a convert. Also my Ryusuke Taguchi appreciation continues to grow. Um, I don't have too many notes on the action as I really dug this one. Davey is in there more often than the previous encounter and it works well. He and Apollo 55 go at it. Tanahashi finally goes Super Saiyan and unloads. It really means something though as he has not needed to do so until now. There really is something to NOT doing big moves all of the time. I think the ACE is as guilty as anyone from what I've seen but, in this series (and because these are mainly house shows) he has showed the restraint and discernment of a true veteran. Great match Tanahashi, Makabe & Manabu Nakanishi vs Tanaka, Yano & Nakamura (12/02/10): Maybe it was Yano being back in the mix but, this was another really good 6 man. Nakanishi played his caveman part well and added a nice dynamic at this point in the series. Admittedly, these are running together especially, as Makabe and Tanaka aren't changing their routine up too much. But, it's all good. This feud is giving me a WAR vs NJ vibe. Sweet finish, highly recommended match. Nakamura, Tanaka, Takahashi & Naito vs Tanahashi, Makabe, Nagata & Inoue (12/04/10): This venue looks like the classic Michinoku Pro gym from the 90's. It's not but, I think I'm wanting to be. This feud/program has been just so much fun. This one starts with Tana vs Tranquilo-to-be on the mat but quickly has all 8 men fighting. Wataru taking on Nakamura- hells yes, dude! Obviously, it doesn't work out in the end and CHAOS isolate and destroy. When, Togi Makabe gets that tag, watch out! The man cleans house. He lariats the shit out of Tanaka but, payback is a bitch. Tana's still killing it and when Yuji Nagata comes in like a MF-ing veteran- holy shit! Insane stretch run and fantastic finish. Great, great match. Makabe & Honma vs Nakamura & Tanaka (12/05/10):I love the single floor camera that most of these matches feature. It is great for this type of stuff as you can hear how hard the blows are & you're ringside and even in the middle of the action. You wouldn't belive these are house shows based off how hard they are going at it. Dangan and the Gorilla do their routine but, again it fucking works. Its so intense and you never can tell if there's gonna be a twist. Their brawling outside and after the bell is just pure pro wrestling. And damn 2010 Nakamura is the optimal version to me. I like the Beat It tribute act but, there's something about the straight forward confidence of this character. Another great match. In conclusion, these small show mathces put things back into perspective. Most fans especially overseas only really get the opportunity or make the time to watch the BIG shows and BIG matches. Myself included. We compare Big Show A to Big Show B (not Paul Wight). But, damn, it's these gems in between that are where it's at to me. There's no excessive finishers or kickouts or resthold masking as psychology. There's only enough time to get your simple but, engaging story across. Its 15-20 minutes of a struggle, of "fighting." This batch of matches felt like Choshu-Tenryu style for the 21st century. Who knows if they're still doing this or if this really was just the rare product of having so much talent peaking in the ring. This has been probably my longest blog entry so, if you've made it this far. I want to mention where my next little exploration into NJ from nearly a decade ago is going. I think the start of the resurgence in interest in NJ was with the influx of gaijin Jrs. like Devitt, Omega, Shelley/Sabin, Romero & Koslov and others (Davey & Low-Ki for example). Their pairing with talent like Taguchi, Tiger Mask IV, bringing in Kota Ibushi (along with Omega), Marufuji and eventually KUSHIDA helped brings eyes back to New Japan in the early 2010's. NOAH was a shell of itself after Misawa died and AJPW had lost it's interest after Muto changed it (although early 2010 AJ is another shiny bit of seaglass on the beach that I am investigating). So, it was only natural that someone had to fill the void. I'd like to check this period out a bit more. There were certainly people in the know back then but, I think 8 years later and with giant interest in NJ, it's important to look back.

Yeah, Liger's involvement was pretty crucial too. You're right! His shotei was like his great equalizing weapon against the heavyweights.

This is just that heated puroresu you don't see very often anymore. This felt like Tenryu had been carrying the WAR vs NJ feud in his lumpy Grinch heart all of this time. He & Chono made their time count while allowing the (somewhat) younger members to take the brunt of the beatings. Smart veterans! Speaking of beatings, Sasaki and Nakanishi's chop & lariat battle was badass. Nakanishi doesn't get the respect that he deserves. He is a helluva clean-up hitter in these type of bouts. Also, Suzuki was his charismatically crazy self. So, you know you gotta see this for that psycho bastard in his prime. This was a great match for sure. I know I'm leaving stuff out but, you're going to want to see it for yourself!

Ah yes, Fire Pro Club! I forgot the name but, I printed out so many templates and guides from there. In more uplifting news, someone posted some fancam footage of Omega and Ibushi playing the NJ version of FPW at the CEO Gaming conference thingy. Good footage of the game. Looks like Naito has a T-shirt and ballcap outfit which will be fun. Nothing earth shattering but, cool to see nonetheless

Man, this worked out just right. Could complain that too many bones were thrown but, they were using them like punches in the States. So, it worked really really well. Being a Makabe fan helps He gave an insightful (and funny) interview/promo after night one's fight. Its after Yoshi-Hashi's bit. I think its his overarching psychology for the round robin and plays into this fight. I pulling for Makabe to win the whole thing Edit: Found interview from Night 2 from Suzuki & Makabe. Man I'm going to rewatch the match based on this. And the aftermath of the match. Make sure close captions are on unless you understand Japanese

Holy shit! Yeah, I was on there and their older site all of the time for pretty much everything...especially logic mapping FAQs. I know the new policy was to back up stuff since their board(s) would crash every couple years. It looks like the remainder of the community has severed all ties and are going to rebuild from what I saw on Twitter. Yeah, what terrible news but, glad that he's been arrested. Just despicable really...

Free match on NJ YouTube this week. Choshu like percussive style wrestling. I could have done without the extended elbow trading because it really loses its effectiveness. However, we see Goto's mouth bleeding afterwards...and this leads into the finish where Goto essentially has to kill Ishii. Nice! ;P "Repetitive" is a valid criticism though. One or two big hard hitting moves is much better than 50. Still, highly recommended because of the positive points made above by others.

Part 2 to my Fire Pro World prepubescent-like obsessive compulsive hype up. This entry was going to have a couple more matches but, I ended up going down a NJ rabbit hole. So, my next post will cover that, hint its CHAOS vs NJPW house shows in 2010. In the meantime, we've got a couple Fire Pro Returns dream matches that I never knew happened. I mean, for real, these are some FPR match maker multi-man battles. And a couple single bouts as I'm a Nagata & Tanaka fan. Genichiro Tenryu, Minoru Suzuki & Kensuke Sasaki vs Masahiro Chono, Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Thunder Liger (11/21/04): Yeah, I felt like writing Liger's full name out. Why not? It makes the match seem older and grander, doesn't it? Well, maybe Akira Hokuto's presence makes it more grand. Its not like it needs it. You've got the legend freelance team from hell here. If this was an 8 man match, they'd get Takayama, I bet. Onto the review! This is just that heated puroresu you don't see very often anymore. This felt like Tenryu had been carrying the WAR vs NJ feud in his lumpy Grinch heart all of this time. He & Chono made their time count while allowing the (somewhat) younger members to take the brunt of the beatings. Smart veterans! Speaking of beatings, Sasaki and Nakanishi's chop & lariat battle was badass. Nakanishi doesn't get the respect that he deserves. He is a helluva clean-up hitter in these type of bouts. Also, Suzuki was his charismatically crazy self. So, you know you gotta see this for that psycho bastard in his prime. This was a great match for sure. I know I'm leaving stuff out but, you're going to want to see it for yourself! Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Kazayuki Fujita & Kendo Kashin vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Osamu Nishimura (05/19/05): Random ass Fire Pro Battle for sure...toped by the fact that Nagata's team comes out wearing Super Strong Machine masks. This combination and style is so weird based on what I have been watching during this year's G1. But to that point, remember emoting in wrestling? Fuck yeah, me too! Let's take a trip back in time and witness some! Perhaps it is nostalgia permeating my brain but, Fujita was an awesome beast of a human being that should have been champ for life There is a simple joy watching him destroy Nakamura who many people think of as King of Strong Style. Yuji Nagata too should wear that crown before Nak' (and I like the dude)! Case in point for the Blue Warrior-watch the part where Tanahashi stiffly slaps & elbows him. The man just absorbs punishment and re-channels it unto his opponent (Wasn't that Bishop's power from X-Men?). Anyhow, I'm going through my notes, and I'm gushing about everything (except Tenzan-no gripes either). So, here's another great match that time may have forgotten if NJPW archivists didn't post this on YouTube. If you're a fan from the 2000's, maybe you don't watch a ton of wrestling, do yourself a favor & watch this match. Or the one above...or walk on the wild side and watch both! Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe (03/21/07) NJ Cup. This started off decently but, Makabe and his pal Honma started cheating-hardcore. Now, I'll say I really was sick of cheating heels in 2007 since TNA at the time was swimming in that bullshit. Oftentimes, its a cover up for a lack of athleticism, narrative direction, or talent. A cop out But, damn! It worked here. Nagata's getting choked with the chain, bleeding and man, he's gotta make the comeback! Enough bull Makabe, kill him or pin him! Sure enough, Mr. Blue Justice gets his opportunity and blazes King Kong Makabe with hard kicks. Eventually, he sinks in the step over arm breaker. Blood dripping down his face, eyes rolled back like The Deadman ©®™ and I'm hooked!! A great moment for fellow Nagata fans and a great match. Maybe newer fans won't appreciate the lack of arm hooking spin around moves but, this was pretty sweet to me. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Masato Tanaka (08/15/09) G1 Climax match. I've come to appreciate Tanahashi in multi man tags but, this restores some faith that he's a fantastic singles wrestler. I say that because they fucking obliterated each other. On top of that, more heel interference that means something, believable false finishes, and Tana leg work from underneath that provides transition rather than weigh the fight down. Classic G1 match? Classic match all around to me. 22 minutes doesn't hurt either There's more for next time...

Great recommendation Boss! This is some pro wrestling right here. Favorite match of the G1 thus far. Yoshinari Ogawa like performance from Yano. They did so much with so little. It'll be fun to see if Yano can keep from cheating.

This was really good stuff. If you've never seen a match of theirs then, watch this That being said, I can't help but think that every match like this devalues their and others work. The final third was amazing and everything looked like the end but, damn where do you go from there? So many avalanche moves, so many drivers. I mean, they have history & they're top talent but, it's round #1 guys... Amazing but, it was just too much, too soon.

Great match around the 4 star area but, criticism of Zack's style are relevant here. He throws in all kinds of Mr. Salty holds but, they don't really amount to much in the end. The fact the Ibushi didn't necessarily sell their crippling effect doesn't help matters. Still, this was a very good match and the stiffness elevated the intensity/believability of the bout.

Although I like both Goto & Sanada (at least when he was in AJPW), I agree with soup23. This was what it needed to be where it needed to be on the show.

Yeah, one star...for real!? I don't watch NJ all of the time, let alone Tanahashi matches. I pretty much actively dislike he and Okada so, any match of their's is an uphill battle. That is to say, they need to convince me that they can have a strong puro contest. I've spent the better part of the day watching 6 and 8 man single camera house show tags from this period. Tanahashi was in 95% of them and he was pretty damn good in all of them. A couple, he was fantastic. Now, if anyone wants to speak of repetitive then, multi-man house shows is your first place to look. However, he and the other guys were mixing it up and adding wrinkles and twists. Sometimes, taking fun matches up to great matches (**** range). So, yes Tanahashi's big matches can be repetitive and look alike and gosh does he go to the leg attack too much but, this really isn't that match. Perhaps he's like Bret Hart, having fantastic house show matches and then having his one big show match for years. Ha, I'm defending Tanahashi But, watching the day to day match then going to this makes me appreciate the extent to which he ups his game here. Both really...If we're only looking at major matches then, perhaps everyone is right. I suppose if I watched only singles matches or Tanahashi singles matches instead then, I'd probably agree. But, I did not This was an amazing match where they beat the shit out of each other. Tanaka went all out & Tanahashi did too. I gotta give him his props. Classic G1 stuff, classic NJ stuff to me.

I'm in between Moe & Soup. Big time comic book battle as expected but, it was fun. They worked really well together, nice focus on the arm despite them shrugging it off, and bombs.

I agree that the duration of the match was beneficial...mainly because it kept the amount of time Tanahashi blew off Suzuki's absolutely masterful leg locks to a minimum. But, its Tanahashi so that's not a surprise and yeah it sorta-kinda worked. But if you wanna see him get mauled by Suzuki, this is your fight. Recommend this, like ***1/2 range, great chemistry, aforementioned leg locks & beating etc.

The Fire Pro World and NJPW partnership has got me really psyched up. The glut of posts I've made on the forum is evidence of that Its all good though because I thought Fire Pro was done after Fire Pro Returns. Its funny because its a little bit of history repeating as I bought a PS2 back in 2007 specifically for FPR and I'll be buying a PS4 for the sole purpose of playing FPW. Admittedly, Fire Pro Returns was a bigger deal as the game never had a US release and I could only mod my PS1 so much and could only admire the awesomeness of Fire Pro D from afar. I would say Fire Pro Returns is a big reason that I became a fanatic for Puroresu. I printed name guides and move lists for all of the wrestlers and studied them against my old VHS tapes and incoming DVDs (plus WCW vs the World PS1). So with this release for the PS4, Fire Pro has got to up the ante. The NJPW partnership is the first chip and new moves, expanded Create-a-Wrestler, and story mode have sweetened the pot for me. However, 08/28 is a little bit away so, I've got to keep the fires stoked somehow. What better way than by combing through free NJ matches on YouTube? What's great (in a way) is the relatively recent stuff from NJ's boom period is at a premium and most likely available on the NJPW World streaming service. The YouTube stuff is perhaps the stuff "no one" cares about anymore . And by "no one", I mean mainstream wrestling fans...people who perhaps have the streaming service and know Okada, Bullet Club etc. but have no clue who Inoki, Hashimoto, or Fujinami are. I'm rambling...onto the matches. The Fire Pro World and NJPW partnership has got me really psyched up. The glut of posts I've made on the forum is evidence of that Its all good though because I thought Fire Pro was done after Fire Pro Returns. Its funny because its a little bit of history repeating as I bought a PS2 back in 2007 specifically for FPR and I'll be buying a PS4 for the sole purpose of playing FPW. Admittedly, Fire Pro Returns was a bigger deal as the game never had a US release and I could only mod my PS1 so much and could only admire the awesomeness of Fire Pro D from afar. I would say Fire Pro Returns is a big reason that I became a fanatic for Puroresu. I printed name guides and move lists for all of the wrestlers and studied them against my old VHS tapes and incoming DVDs (plus WCW vs the World PS1). So with this release for the PS4, Fire Pro has got to up the ante. The NJPW partnership is the first chip and new moves, expanded Create-a-Wrestler, and story mode have sweetened the pot for me. However, 08/28 is a little bit away so, I've got to keep the fires stoked somehow. What better way than by combing through free NJ matches on YouTube? What's great (in a way) is the relatively recent stuff from NJ's boom period is at a premium and most likely available on the NJPW World streaming service. The YouTube stuff is perhaps the stuff "no one" cares about anymore . And by "no one", I mean mainstream wrestling fans...people who perhaps have the streaming service and know Okada, Bullet Club etc. but have no clue who Inoki, Hashimoto, or Fujinami are. I'm rambling...onto the matches! Ok this first one is 2009 but, close enough... Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto (08/07/09): G1 match. People didn't really care about the G1 until a couple years ago when Dr.Dave and others started rating these highly. AJ vs Minoru Suzuki, I think is the big one. Otherwise, there were probably only like a handful of G1 matches that got uber pimped. Nonetheless, the tournament always produced a few great battles. This has got to be one for '09. Smart, violent Nakamura vs Tank like Goto in 16 minutes of vicious strikes, suplexes, and slams. There was a miscommunication early or in the middle, I believe but, it was quickly forgotten. As much as I like the psycho Beat It Nakamura, this iteration is best because he's not so predictable. For instance, there is an awesome ground work sequence at the end that had me saying, "Damn I need more of this in my NJ!" Go see this and you'll want Nak' back in NJ immediately. Ryusuke Taguchi vs Kota Ibushi (06/10/11): 18 minutes of perfectly executed action. Ibushi was flashy here with a cartwheel move but, I'm OK with the rest of his offence. He made it look natural. However, the real talent of the match was Taguchi. He employed a strong abdomen focused attack on Ibushi from beginning to end. Unfortunately, Ibushi doesn't go very deep in selling this psychology. He lets you know how tired and hurt overall but, doesn't so much as clutch his ribs or chest to convey the strategy of Taguchi...Doing this may have put this into classic Jr. canon contention. Alas, we just get an excellent fireworks match. Or an excellent Fire Pro World match Still, no one really recalls how Devitt & Taguchi were hot shit back then. Their matches with Golden Lovers & Motor City Machine Guns were what got people excited about NJ. Then, the Tanahashi stuff started up. Anyway, great match here. Probably will dig back into the early 2010 NJ Jr. Tag scene next post. Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto (05/20/12): I'll be honest. The IC and Never contenders are the real heavyweights in NJ. The IWGP heavy stuff (especially Tanahashi & Okada) is like WWE Japan at times. There are exceptions for sure as I really dug Omega vs Okada at WK12 and Naito is the man. I just think the Nakamura-Ishii-Goto combo was the bees knees for a few years. You can throw Makabe, Nagata, and a couple others in there and you've got a winner in my book. I say this because people no longer associate NJ with this beat guys into a pulp style but, before the Jr. Elevation Explosion, it was Kensuke, Hashimoto, Choshu, Kojima, Tenzan, Nagata and others doing straight forward physical matches. Goto and Ishii carry on that tradition. No surprise as Goto is the pupil of Tenzan and Ishii is Choshu's. Put simply, there are strike battles and no-sells that are the hallmark of the period but, they can be overlooked when it cannot be determined if Ishii is bleeding from giving or receiving a straight headbutt. Moderation is the key to this style but probably no more than the spot and sequence heavy style in vogue. Highly recommended match. Kazushi Sakuraba vs Shinsuke Nakamura (01/04/13 WK 7): I'll guess that I personally would like this better than the Okada vs Tanahashi main event of this super show of super shows. I'm ragging on NJ a lot for allegedly wanting to buy their game so bad This bout starts polite until Nak' slaps Saku. Then, it gets blown open like old corduroy pants! The Gracie Killer unloads with palm strikes and aggressive grappling. Shinsuke is just trying to stay alive until he can deliver his patented knees and make some space to breathe. This fight is Strong Style Evolved in the true sense. Slaps, knees, armbars all while Nakamura is able to insert his character and Saku is able to smash Nakamura's head like an egg! Awesome stuff man. Part 2 featuring tag matches and multi-man matches should be up soon. Tenryu in 2004 anyone? Thanks for reading! Hope this pumped you up for watching NJ and playing Fire Pro!

Have been doing research: Its looking like 39 NJ members at the start. The Steam update and the PS4 release are to be in tandem. The additional DLC modes are looking to be an updated Management Of The Ring from Final Fire Pro for GBA, a NJPW Junior Heavyweight story mode scenario + wrestlers plus one more that's a mystery. Speculation is a ROH/CMLL tie in especially since the Young Bucks and other ROH talent will not be on the initial release roster. But, that's wishful thinking. I'd be down with a NJ legends mode or something like that. Move wise, it looks like a few patches on the Steam version has provided some great old school moves (along with newer ones) that enhance the game mechanics. That is to say, there are standing headlocks that work like a submission and alternate versions of moves that stun an opponent rather than knock them down. The old school moves I was happy to see are the new headlocks, the airplane spin, a brass knuckle punch, a pulling piledriver like Foley does, Dusty's Bionic elbow, andhair pull takedown. I'm sure there's more The new contemporary moves are pretty up to date and way to many to list but, ones I recall are Deadlift German suplex (like Sekimoto and others do), arm trap German, Code Breaker/Lung Blower type moves, Nakamura or Omega's knee strike and the NJ top 5's finishers/specials look already in the Steam version. There are mods for moves that are out there that muddy the waters as far as what to expect at release though. It certainly looks like they're going all out to make it a much updated Fire Pro when all is said and done.

I think that its being generous to give this ***3/4. A lot of that is based on ZSJ working his carny moves and Okada being a great base for that. The finish was appropriate as Zack wrestled circles around Okada. This may be the case where I need to see the Sakura match to "get" this. If that's the case then, that precludes it from being a classic in my book. But, as a stand alone it's pretty good stuff with good action and a little bit of drama.

I agree with Childs. The match's pace and structure was really poor after the 12-15 minute area. It was all over the place. The ladder stuff not being in the end is a good example. However, they could have saved the match/story towards the end when Brandi came in to protect Cody. There were two good options there but, they opted for the 3rd, meaningless and unconvincing, option. With that said, the first portion of the bout was really good in the "keep it simple, stupid" way. Cody seemed to get worse as the match went on and Kenny just lost all sense of direction. It kinda reminds me of a Jerry Lynn vs RVD PPV match. There's positives there but, they get lost in the mix of spots, out of place comebacks, and trying for too much.