soup23

This was like sitting down to a movie sequel and your favorite actors and the hot action are still there but the organic feeling that formed from the first iteration is gone. That was a HUGE factor in my investment in the first match. Okada did such a great job selling the leg in the first match and with the slightly reduced time here, that was the key pivotal moment that went by the wayside. Okada's selling here was suspect and not very strong even though a fair point is that the damage that Naito did was not near as extreme as in the first match. The Rainmaker again is protected which is appreciative but we also got things like the flap jack, springy dropkick, etc that I am waning of for being transition spots in almost all of the big Okada matches. Stardust press for Naito to win got a great reaction and felt like a nice moment for him but this was missing that extra ingredient for it to be a great match in my eyes. ***1/2

This was functional but not very compelling either. Okada's expressions in the early strike exchanges are over exaggerated and goofy. I do appreciate that he gains the advantage here through strikes and not the other components he has relied upon in previous matches. However, his offense on top was mundane and unoriginal and that makes the comeback by Tenzan feel hollow. Finishing stretch has a bit of back and forth and the headbutt that Brad mentions is the highlight. Rainmaker wins it for Okada. This match was not the main or semi main on this G-1 show but I didn't think it was a particularly compelling match at all or a good performance for Okada. He had on new gold gear and a great reaction from the crowd there but he felt like a hollow emperor in displaying how he could be the ace of the company going forward. **3/4

I didn't like this much at all. It was serviceable as a tag match but it didn't make me anticipate any further matches between Okada vs Naito & Anderson which was the point of the match. This instead felt like a functionally fine tag match with all four guys just waiting for the tour to be over so they can gear up for G-1. **1/2

I liked this match a good deal as an inter promotional attraction where you knew 100% who was taking the fall as they went into the ring. Okada and Suwama had some good chemistry together and could have set up a money match in the future. Kondo also fed into his opponents well. I didn't think Nak was quite as bad as Brad but he sure wasn't memorable or spectacular. Overall, a good fan service tag match. ***1/4

Inevitably, there will be moments when you watch a match in this project and see that it was definitely a 2000-style match and not meaning that as a compliment. That was one of these times. Both of these guys seem to have something there but they keep mixing up the match with highspots brought down by Paris grabbing a lazy headlock. Rinse and repeat over 20 minutes and I was checking out big time throughout this one. The ending is also awful with another run in and outside interference. 6/3/00 is an interesting day for indies with a lot of groups running but we are still seeing that the US indy scene still had some growing left to do. *3/4

I have been chronicling Okada's 2012 year with two parts that have dropped so far. Part 1: http://placetobe.podbean.com/e/pod-blast-learning-to-love-okada-part-1/ Part 2: http://placetobe.podbean.com/e/pod-blast-learning-to-love-okada-part-2/

Sort of a weird tag match as it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a traditional southern tag or a hardcore match. Jeff Daniels was fun to watch as he is a sleazy looking guy that would be entertaining to see in other spots. Chris Champion looks like he tweaked too hard at the rave and had a fairly rough night execution wise with a lot of errant kicks. James Storm is really young here but looked more polished from a traditional sense than anyone else. That just leaves us with Eden who did a beautiful back body drop with great air control but also was spotty in other areas. This ends in a catfight and run ins with 3 out of the 4 competitors busted open. Gary Valiant makes a run in and goes after Daniels but gets a huge fireball blown into his face from Champion that looked really cool. Daniels beats up the referee on the outside and he is busted open. An interesting angle to look at for sure as not everything from the match connected with me but PRX was a violent faction and the visuals of the match leave a lasting impression. **1/2

FWA as a promotion probably doesn't get enough credit for being at the forefront of decent indy production in 2000. Clean look, decent enough announcer, a ring mat that doesn't look like you will contract deadly diseases by wrestling in it. This match continued that trend. This could very well be plopped into the 2003 ROH mid card and no one would have bat an eye. There were some minor annoyances like Youth's ridiculous pose bowing to all sides of the crowd as a babyface before delivering the frog splash finisher. I don't know how much Berk we will see overall but he was a good hand around this time and knew his fundamentals. ***

Another early look at Pearce here. He takes a Davy Crockett coonskin cap from a fan and misses a charge into the corner. This was fine heavyweight style indy wrestling with both guys showing they could still do athletic stuff like Pearce with a rana and Norwood missing an elbow from the top. The finish here is cheap as can be with Pearce’s buddies coming in and hitting a belt shot against Norwood. Pearce gets attacked going to the back and it looks like the floor of this arena is dirt. A really cheap finish and the match wasn’t that much either. I don’t know when Pearce got “good” but he is still working it out in 2000 from what we have seen. **

Another good looking tag in the middle of the BOSJ tournament. Tanaka starts out with Kashin and Takiawa and they have a good looking exchange. Liger gets tagged in and Kashin catches him right away with the armbreaker for the tap out. WOW. ¾*

Another good BOSJ match although this one didn’t seem to really get off the ground unlike others we have seen throughout the tournament. With any tournament setting like this, taking some nights off is a necessity and it felt like that is what we got here. Usuda still seems to be a fun worker mixed in with these guys. **1/2

Okada certainly has a set formula through the first half of the 2012 run. While it makes it easy to compare matches in a way because I can say easily which neck attack utilized by Okada that I liked the best, it may not be the best thing from a repetition standpoint if looking at these matches from a binge perspective. I suppose since he is having one big match per month, some of these continued trends like the sitting dropkick and the funky neck submissions didn't feel as repetitious in real time. I do disagree with Childs in liking the submissions. It is a nice callback to Okada's Toryumon training and I appreciate the fact that he captures the limbs and applies the cravate pretty tightly. Compare that to the Red Ink he applies in the WK Omega match where the legs are barely grapevined and hardly any pressure looks like it is being applied. The crowd did buy the submission as a viable finish in the Naito match and I thought it was utilized well here to show that Okada still is not out of his league going against ace Tanahashi.

I want to see them in succession, my ratings coming into this are: New Beginning ****1/4 Dominion **** WK 7 ***3/4 Invasion Attack ****1/2 G-1 2013 ***1/2 KOPW ****3/4 WK 9 **** WK 10 ****1/2 G-1 2016 ***1/4

These two have great chemistry together. This was as "big" as the sumo hall match but it was a nice compact slugfest with the arm of Suwama being worked over. I was happy that the allure of Miyahara hadn't dwindled much between losing the belt to Shuji and now this loss. The knees in the comeback portion were placed well. My MOTN for this All Japan card. ****

Concurred with the analysis on Burning Spirits that this is slightly behind the January tag but still really good stuff. Hama in particular really impressed me as he just looks more and more grossly fat and yet he still is able to go out there and move around and bump. Him and Okabayashi in particular had fun interactions here. Just a really strong beefy tag match that never overstayed its welcome and didn't devolve into ridiculousness. ***3/4

I liked this match but was left disappointed as I thought in particular HIroyo didn't really give as good of a performance as I would have hoped for. The neck work was there but there was also some moments without urgency and the finish seemed to take everyone by surprise. ***1/4

I wanted to watch this because I have discovered Hana on the Wrestle-1 shows and really like her. Seeing her tagging with Meiko is a plus. This was a good match that was really strike heavy. I was surprised to see Meiko play FIP for a big portion of the match. Hana and her complimented each other well as a team IMO. I know that Syuri has some hype among joshi fans and I find her to be serviceable but still haven't been blown away by a performance I have seen yet. The finish was exciting but also involved some goofy stuff like the kendo stick being used. ***

I thought this was overrated at the time and have no idea what I was thinking as I have watched the match twice in the past three days and it is fantastic. You can see the progression and development of both men off of the first match and I liked how the headlock stuff starts things off here but within 5 minutes, Tana is pushing the pace more. He is not taking this kid lightly now and is more aggressive throughout this match. Okada continues to implement his spots of transition like the dropkick and flap jack but he also works the neck really well here doing the guardrail stuff again and a quick DDT. The finishing stretch with the battle of who can hit their finisher first is amazing and they are able to protect the RainMaker so well which was a great moment. In addition, the tombstone is a critical portion of this match much like February. They are building up a great feud between each other and Okada's facials were excellent here in conveying that he was down and never out. Him winning in February was no fluke and even in defeat here, you feel he is here to stay. Tanahashi gets the superstar face rock star reception when he wins. Just typing out these thoughts, the match is being raised in my eyes. ****3/4

I like both of these guys but the match never came together for me. There was some work on the leg and some crowd brawling but instead of mixing both guys strengths together into an effective, cohesive match, this was all over the place. Disappointing. **3/4

15 minutes of all action that didn't feel like a blown off spot fest. This was a great representation of modern joshi and brought me back to some of the 2000 stuff I have been watching involving Hyaga. HIroyo is quietly piecing together a strong year and Arisa is one of the better young joshi workers IMO. This match had back and forth but the transitions were logical and the match conveyed a sense of being up for grabs at all times. ***3/4

A very good match, but also one where you get the impression that in the worker's head, they think the match is great and it never came all the way together for me in that regard. We have seen a good bit of limb and body control work from Okada in this run now and this was the weakest of those narratives. Goto doesn't do many compelling things on top and Okada's facials and overall demeanor isn't as strong as it was in the Naito match. Goto works the neck of Okada as well and does have short bursts like the running clotheslines that look effective but their isn't much follow up. Okada continues to have a system that he employs into his singles matches the more you watch such as gaining the advantage by hitting a dropkick with his opponent sitting on the top rope. The finish has a good many kick outs of all the big moves of both men minus the RainMaker. The RainMaker gets hit and again is enough on the first try for Okada to win. ***1/2

Essentially a NJ squash match. I don't want to crap on it because it is the type of singles match with the champion vs lower rung opponent we never see nowadays so this looks better in retrospect as a novelty. Captain also does take the big finishers well and has a couple of quick bursts of offense. Okada keeps chugging along. **

I adore this match. Two hungry guys of the future going out there and ripping it off giving off a classical title vibe worthy of being the main event on the 40th anniversary show for the promotion while also bringing in a new narrative for the entire Kidani era of the promotion. Okada's leg gets decimated by Naito and he sells it for all it is worth. The facial expressions of Okada is stronger here than at any point of this run so far as he is the ring leader throughout the match and provides some complex emotions like whether he should perform the tombstone on the floor or not. Okada also goes back to his Toryumon roots and really executes the neck submissions well based off the llave mat work. The RainMaker has been established so well as a flash killer finish that the crowd really bites on these submissions as a finish. The finishing run is frantic and full of drama without ever dipping into excess. I really miss the days when RainMaker was all it took for the match to finish and once that was hit, the match was over. MOTYC for sure in the absolutely loaded 2012 year. ****3/4

I am really becoming fond of Ashino. He has a classical look with black trunks with Metallica font and works his matches around a basic but believable way of suplexes and constantly going for his ankle lock finisher. He also works really well in a META sense of the current client of Wrestle-1 of old vs new as he is a man on an island feuding with both contingencies. This is probably my favorite match of his run yet slightly edging out the Soya May defense. It is worked as the neck of Ashino being worked over and him of course going after Doi's leg. Doi is someone that the promotion clearly has plans for with the NEWERA faction and he does a strong job working the neck here with a ton of variations on suplexes and neckbreakers and going back to a rings of Saturn with a cravate clutch. Doi is less successful getting over the excellent ankle and leg work Ashino is doing as his selling is fairly inconsistent. Eventually, Ashino is able to throw off a flurry of suplexes and lock in the ankle lock again to gain the submission victory. After the match, the entire roster seems to come out and claim a stake at wanting a piece of Ashino. He is probably having the most underrated title reign in wrestling currently and this was a great match barring the inconsistent selling of Doi. ***3/4

I would recommend watching this simply as 44 year old Kaz Hayashi taking no less than 3-4 horrific bumps on his neck for our pleasure in the match. I don't think the match was technically good from a structure standpoint as it has spots like MAZADA completely spiking him with a tombstone sit out driver and then Kaz being on offense 20 seconds later. The match is built around the spots but for two 40+ workers going out and killing each other like they would have in their prime, this was fascinating to watch. ***