soup23

I think Komatsu and to a slightly lesser extent Tanaka are going to have to have some sort of development soon. Whether that means winning a match, being in a tournament like BOSJ or what, I'm not sure, but they both have shown enough in this past year of so working the opening matches that they can win over a crowd and execute an effective story.

1/30/15 Quick Thoughts (1) Alex Shelley vs. Jay White First look at Jay White. This was pretty rudimentary in the early going with Jay utilizing a headlock but not doing much with it. Ditto for Shelley when he started on offense. This picked up in the last few minutes when Jay escaped the camel clutch. Finishing run was fine and Jay looked good doing a DDT and working towards an upset. Solid opener and Jay executed well but it remains to be seen whether he can build a story for an entire match. **1/2 (2) Yohei Komatsu vs. Kyle O’Reilly This was a good match. O' Reilly has tightened up his strikes and added more viciousness. Komatsu is well on his way to becoming a big addition to New Japan overall as his timing is really good especially in the way he got the flash roll up here for a great near fall. I thought this was a perfect match to showcase both guys and highlight their strengths without overstaying their welcome. *** (3) KUSHIDA & Mascara Dorada vs. Matt & Nick Jackson Spots, Spots, more Spots. **3/4 (4) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan & Tiger Mask IV Generic 6 man action but more zest than usual reflective in my generic ** rating that I usually provide as a baseline for these. Captain New Japan and Liger have some good interactions with each other and TMIV has condensed his repertoire down to just hit the stuff he can really cleanly. Ten/Koji is sloppy and clunky as ever but they tried here. **1/2 (5) Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI MOTN more than likely. In a match with Nakamura/Ishii, Honma was clearly the best here to me. Sure this is a throwaway 8 man, but look at the sympathy and timing he conveyed for his hot tag and the diving headbutt. Nakamura seemed oddly off in this match and based on their interaction, I am concerned about the Sendai Nagata match. Ishii double elbow and overall strike exchange with Makabe was nice and Togi looked more stiff and accurate here than at the dome. Overall, a very enjoyable match. ***1/4 (6) Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi This match sucked. Yujiro has no impact or reaction on his moves and was paired with Gedo. Everything from the mundane action on the outside to a butt ugly hotshot and finisher summed up his performance here. Fale and Okada didn't inspire either and that is a feud even New Japan hardcores are into. *1/2 (7) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga & Kenny Omega Another blah match. A really lifeless shine sequence starts out before Taguchi gets worked over. Bullet Club has some snippets where they work well as a tandem but for most of the match and their control segment, it felt like four individuals that just happened to be wearing similar gear. Also, this Omega character isn't getting better with multiple times seeing him. Crowd died down. Finish was fun as Tana gave Tonga a Styles Clash and puts him away with the High Fly Flow. ** An enjoyable two hour show but I would recommend skipping the last two matches and just watch the gif of Tana hitting the Styles Clash. In what may become a theme of this tour, the first half felt much more fresh and interesting than the second half.

Of the shows I listed above, all but 2/11 have a start time that every other live show on NJW has had. The setup for the 2/11 show seems similar to the World Tag League final. I have no idea if any of the other shows on the tour not listed above will make tape.

I dont have it as high as you but it is certainly on the short list of best HHH matches in my book. I watched most of the usual suspects going through the top 100 stuff and these are the only one that are contenders: 1. vs. Jericho Fully Loaded 2000 2. vs. Rock SSlam 1998 3. vs. Cactus Rumble 2000 4. vs. Taker WM 27 (know this is a point of contention with most) I would have the above around the same ****1/2 rating I rated HHH vs. Bryan.

That is interesting. Could there be some Daniel Bryan in Team Hell No going on with Ibushi if he is bogged down most of the year in a tag team?

Matt chronicles his journey attending the Royal Rumble live: http://placetobenation.com/matt-ds-rumble-road-report/

It at least seems fresh which is all I can ask for from third from the top. When was the last marquee Naito vs. Tanahashi match? I could seem him as a solid contender on a show if he builds up some wins assuming Tana retains vs. Styles.

It is only a 6 match show now? That is a bummer as I was looking forward to the Red Dragon tag.

Posted below are the New Japan World cards. 1/30/15 New Japan World 5:00 AM Eastern (1) Sho Tanaka vs. Jay White (2) Alex Shelley & Yohei Komatsu vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (3) KUSHIDA & Mascara Dorada vs. Matt & Nick Jackson (4) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan & Tiger Mask IV (5) Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI (6) Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi (7) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga & Kenny Omega 2/1/15 New Japan World 4:30 AM Eastern (1) Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (2) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan, Mascara Dorada & Jay White (3) Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson (4) Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba (5) Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga (6) Yuji Nagata & Togi Makabe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii (7) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Yujiro Takahashi 2/8/15 New Japan World 2:00 AM Eastern (1) Sho Tanaka vs. Jay White (2) Tiger Mask IV & Yohei Komatsu vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (3) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada (4) Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Matt & Nick Jackson (5) Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga (6) Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI (7) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega 2/11/15 Airing on Demand on New Japan World (1) Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu (2) Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask IV & Mascara Dorada vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan & Jay White (3) Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rob Conway & Chase Owens (4) Tomoaki Honma vs. Kota Ibushi (5) IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship 3WAY Match: [39th Champions] Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. [Challengers] KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. [Challengers] Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson ~ 2nd title defense (6) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: [70th Champion] Kenny Omega vs. [Challenger] Ryusuke Taguchi ~ 1st title defense (7) Special 6 Man Tag Match: Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga (8) Special 6 Man Tag Match: Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI (9) IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: [65th Champions] Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. [Challengers] Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows ~ 1st title defense (10) IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: [61st Champion] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. [Challenger] AJ Styles ~ 2nd title defense 2/14/15 New Japan World 4:00 AM Eastern. (1) Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma & Yohei Komatsu vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan & Sho Tanaka (2) Tiger Mask IV & Mascara Dorada vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (3) Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson (4) NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: [90th Champion] Jushin Liger vs. [Challenger] Chase Owens ~ 2nd title defense (5) NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: [90th Champion] Rob Conway vs. [Challenger] Hiroyoshi Tenzan (6) Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba (7) Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi (8) Special 6 Man Tag Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga (9) NEVER Openweight Championship Match: [6th Champion] Togi Makabe vs. [Challenger] Tomohiro Ishii ~ 1st title defense (10) IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: [10th Champion] Shinsuke Nakamura vs.[Challenger] Yuji Nagata ~ 3rd title defense Hoping to catch most of these live. Seems like a lot of rehashes but also the potential for perhaps some title changes and we should have a good direction of the New Japan landscape until G-1 with the results of this tour.

1/19 Thoughts: 1. KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger & Stuka Jr. vs. Gedo & Yoshi-Hashi & OKUMURA & Tomohiro Ishii - I thought this was a better than usual six man opener in New Japan with Okuura's valet mixing in well and I loved the callback to the Liger/Maria spots from the World Tag League. Stuka was still getting big pops for his dives and most of the Chaos side was there to make the others look good. **3/4 2. Captain New Japan & Triton vs. Tetsuya Naito & Ryusuke Taguchi - I was ready to hate this a tone with Taguchi doing the Pharaoh gimmick again but he added some new wrinkles and this was a lot of fun. I have to give credit to Captain New Japan. He is easy to make fun in the context of New Japan based on appearance but is not bad at all for a lower card guy keeping the crowd engaged on the undercard of a show. Matches like these help build a show from being good to very good based on their surprise factor. **1/2 3. Stigma & Angel de Oro vs. Mephisto & Yujiro Takahashi - Pretty blah match that really stuck out on this card overall. This would just have felt like one of many the night before or from the 1/13 FantasticMania show that has surfaced but on this night, it felt really generic and lackluster. Yujiro along with Omega is my two least favorite New Japan regular guys. *1/2 4. Rey Cometa vs. Barbaro Cavernario - Awesome match that is all you want from a spotfest. I don't think it was great technically but the dives, crowd factor, and out of control feeling made it stand out not only on this tour but in the entire month of January which is a month receiving high praise for its quality worldwide. I don't think it is a MOTYC and we haven't seen some stuff getting a lot of pub (the Philly ROH 6-man main event), but I would have no problem calling this a top 5 match of the month of what I have seen. ***3/4 5. Mistico vs. Polvora - The new Mistico just doesn't have any of the ancillary factors that made the original so cool and fresh back in 2005 and 2006. This was generic singles lucha with Polvora on top clubbering down Mistico and him making comebacks in lackluster fashion. **1/4 6. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi & Volador Jr. & Atlantis vs. Kazuchika Okada & Shinsuke Nakamura & Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero - A really good match that mixed in spots and more depth than these throwaway 8 man tags sometimes feel. Everyone had a chance to shine and develop some of the upcoming feuds that will still be in the forefront of the respective promotions. Tanahashi seemed motivated in a multi-man match which is a welcome change and Ibushi vs. Okada and Nakamura is a pairing I hope to see a lot more of in New Japan as the year progresses. ***1/4 7. Mascara Dorada vs. La Sombra - Sombra's outfit was so bad ass and just oozed charisma. This had some really complicated and intricate spots and they mostly held it all together. On top of that, they told a fairly compelling story and Dorada was able to pick up a big victory before announcing that he was in New Japan for the full year. A really good main event to cap off a really good show. ***1/2 I have no problem calling this the second best New Japan show of the year and it was really good overall with only a couple of matches that missed the mark.

"you have to question the wisdom of biting a gay man from San Francisco in 1973." Shut this board down now. This is really neat Parv.

The invasion attack match was in my top 10 and the only New Japan match I thought was better in 2014 was Styles vs. Suzuki. I think the G-1 final has more appeal just based on the Okada story arc and the atmosphere of the match itself but the work to me in Tana vs. Nakamura is much stronger.

Great post Tim. This highlighted all the positives I saw in the presentation of this show while also accentuating the negatives which is deservedly so when something is proclaimed the best wrestling tv show of all time by multiple sources. One thing to me is that the commentary in this match was good but no where near the level for me that others seem to think it is.

Two hot angles in Memphis right now. Hayes really seems to be enjoyable himself in this role and I have enjoyed watching him perform.

Glad I voiced my support for the angle last week as this had the development as I have been waiting for as Lawler pulls a fast one on Stasiak but gets Stacey pissed off in the process.

Want to see this one in full again as it looked at worst a small step behind January. Busa has been on my good side so far in 1999.

Touching tribute. Everything from the hierarchy to the lighting and music was note perfect. The announcer almost breaking gave me chills. Baba was truly a legend.

These callers.....my lord. "I'd rather get a DUI", "I'm not in a good state of mind".

Be more specific Parv, I found the tag match inoffensive and I am waning on Mizdow but they did provide some development here.

Timing was fine with me. It prevents the match from being great overall really but it does provide a great introduction and the spots here looked more daring and terrific than most of the RVD stuff we have seen throughout the years. Ready to watch more of Tajiri. ***1/4

I agree this was better than anything on Nitro and at least made me chuckle with Glacier showing how self-aware he was. Still, definite lower mid card fodder stuff.

Wow, that Flair hot tag was eerily quiet. Some of the 98 Nitros were bad but knowing where the company went after this, this one may have been the worst overall from watching this stuff chronologically as nothing felt fresh or engaging.

Sasso gives Bret his comeuppance and PIper wins the US belt which was worthless with him holding it. WM 8 this was not.

This Nitro is the fucking pits. MadTV wasn't even as funny as All That and while its good to see Bret in a mainstream arena, it setting up a wrestling angle in this fashion is beyond stupid. Malone and Rodman had real life on court issues which is why that worked.

We get a beatdown outside but this hasnt' been a feud that has set the world on fire either. WCW is dragging right now and a pretty big slog to get through honestly as some is wrestlecrap but other stuff is just really dull like this.