stro Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Shibata sure is a fucking moron. After all that we know about headbutts in 2017, he's still doing the ultra stiff shoot headbutts and gave himself a subdural hematoma. This dude had to have brain surgery from hitting a headbutt too hard in a fake fighting match. It's not even like he's Bryan doing stuff that only fucks him up, he's hitting those brutal headbutts on other people, putting them at risk for no reason, too. I'd be furious if I was running NJ and he put Okada out of action with a concussion so he could get his headbutt shit over more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 10, 2017 Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 It's a bit of a sick notion, but if that was his last ever match, I would consider it quite the story. "Ultra badass shootstyle wrestler gives his all in the most important match he's ever had, loses and ends his career in the process." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 I think NJ is entering its late 90s AJPW phase. The increased level of violence, the incredibly dangerous, batshit crazy bumps, etc. There have been probably 6 or 7 bumps so far this year in NJPW that legitimately scared me for the wrestler's safety. I hope they tune it down a bit. I worry that this crew in NJPW is going to suffer the same sort of long and short term health affects that have affected the guys from that era in AJPW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 It's a bit of a sick notion, but if that was his last ever match, I would consider it quite the story. "Ultra badass shootstyle wrestler gives his all in the most important match he's ever had, loses and ends his career in the process." i was having a hard time expressing a similar sentiment, but my thought process was like "Well, if that had to happen, that's definitely the match he wanted to have it happen in". Not condoning the headbutt either, as it wasn't even semi-critical to the match and story they were telling. That should be the end of headbutts like that (not just from him). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Wait, it turns out that story was a work to get over the brutality of the match Gedo you sonumagum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Most telling will be when he returns to action. i don't think the entire injury is a work, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 On one hand it would be good because well, Shibata doesn't have a fucking hematoma on his brain. On the other hand why the fuck would you do a work based on that? Specially when the guy's been doing stiff headbutts for YEARS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Bologna Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Is there anyone in this Lion's Gate thing I need to make sure to watch? I like what I've seen of Kiwata, and a dude called "DINOSAUR TAKUMA" is obviously going to get a look. I wish more of the matches were mixed rookie/vet tags so you don't go in definitely knowing who's going to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 So they did an injury angle with an injury that can take months to years to heal. I don't know if thats crazy or brillant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Shibata being injured for real is much more likely than Tokyo Sports finding a doctor willing to risk his reputation for a clickbait (and I wouldn't put it past them) and every single magazine, spectator, wrestler, source etc. being in on this big work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Someone needs to get the scoops. Is it a worked injury? A worked injury to cover a more serious injury? A real injury? A real injury that isn't bad as reported? A real injury that is worse than reported? How did this go from real to work back to real in the course of 2-3 days? Double Talking Dave strikes again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 How did this go from real to work back to real in the course of 2-3 days? It's "two people from the company Dave heard from but isn't really sure he trusts on this" vs everyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Real or not, headbutting someone with such force you bust your own head open in a worked environment is a stupid thing to do even by Japan's "what do you mean head shots are bad" philosophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 If it is a work, that's a really fucking shitty thing to pull after Honma's injury last month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 In the latest update, Dave mentions it appears the injuries are legit and Shibata may not ever be cleared to wrestle again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 It seems that he was also dehydrated. Considering it was his longest singles match... Honestly, this whole situation just makes me pissed with the NJPW style. 40 minute long matches and extra hard hitting obviously is a damn dangerous combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 That's been the style for a long time and not just in NJ. Being dehydrated seems dubious, obviously he's in pretty great shape and shouldn't be dehydrated after 40 mins of wrestling. I'm calling bullshit on that part. That ultra stiff, realistic as possible style is something Shibata has been doing from day one, then also got his head pounded in in pretty much all of his MMA fights. That shit was going to catch up with him eventually. Okada is the next guy to worry about. He's spent the past 2 years taking head drops the Four Corners would cringe at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Trying to catch up with NJ this year, hadn't watched anything since WK. New Beginning in Sapporo has a typically dull as dishwater undercard where all the matches exist just to tease matches for other shows and everyone works at half speed. Suzuki-Gun is already back to being boring as shit, just being booked like they were before/Bullet Club and it feels stale from the jump. Probably should have just been Suzuki himself coming back. So after the dull undercard, Suzuki/Okada doing a 40 minute match with 30 minutes of leg work that ultimately went no where as it didn't prevent Okada from hitting any of his normal jumpy moves, and there was no drama in 10 minutes of Gedo thinking about maybe throwing in the towel. Working this almost 1970s AJ style match after such a long show and then having a ref bump/run in brawl felt completely incongruous and inappropriate for the match they were working, and completely unnecessary as they immediately went back to leg locks like the run in never happened anyway. I have to say I was getting HHH/Rollins vibes from the match, where you're "selling" as long as you're grabbing your knee once in awhile, and grabbing your knee means it makes sense that you can go from not walking to jumping over your opponent's head like it's nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Looks like there's going to be an IWGP United States title created for the Long Beach shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Looks like there's going to be an IWGP United States title created for the Long Beach shows. I thought that was the original idea of the Intercontinental title. Wasn't it? A New Japan title that would be mostly defended abroad? It was defended in the US or Mexico like 6 times in the first 2 years. I don't know if its been defended abroad since Sombra had it... maybe Elgin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoryukens Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 I see lots of rumblings for Cody to get the new US belt. I'd prefer if Elgin won the belt but maybe Cody winning would be a blessing in disguise since Elgin can stay with the main NJPW roster and Cody can use his popularity to promote NJ while touring the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 Cody. Popularity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 Cody Rhodes is like the Randy Orton of his dynasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 Remember when they already made a title for the US, yet had the finals of the tournament decided by YANO AND MVP? And then it took Nakamura literally saying he was going to make the title important (implying it was a joke) and it basically took making the IC title Nak's vanity belt for the next 3 years to give it any meaning while also removing it from its original purpose (to be a title to be defended in the US/abroad). Imagine how many years it would take to rehab that title if Cody was the inaugural champion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 The card for Dominion is shaping up very nicely & I'm already pretty excited. IWGP Title: Okada© Vs. Omega rematch IWGP IC: Naito© Vs. Tanahashi rematch NEVER: Minoru© Vs. Goto - Lumberjack Deathmatch IWGP Tag: War Machine© Vs. GoD Jr. Tag: Roppongi Vice© Vs. Young Bucks Cody Vs. Elgin - which is about the worst match I can think of as it's two of my least liked wrestlers in the world right now but whatever. Naito/Tanahashi was my fav match from Wrestle Kingdom & I'm looking forward to it again. I think Naito is my favorite wrestler in the world right now. Good chance Omega could take the title from Okada this time so that Okada. Minoru Suzuki is really good but Goto is hit or miss (and sometimes lazy) so maybe the stipulation can help some? Dunno what to expect from that one. I do really like Goto's new finish. I'm sure Hiromu Takahashi will defend the Jr. Belt on the card too. All the stables in New Japan are full of people that suck. Hard to take the stables seriously when they're full of dudes like Yujiro Takahashi, Toru Yano,Taichi Ishikari or fucking EVIL with his K-Mart Halloween clearance rank outfit. It's like the nWo b-team when we were supposed to take Vincent & Horace Hogan seriously. Damn shame about Shibata. He was one of my favorites. Curious to watch Katsuya Kitamura develop & see if he turns out any good. I need to seek out Tiger Mask/Okada and the NEVER title switch between Suzuki/Goto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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