sek69 Posted January 24, 2019 Report Share Posted January 24, 2019 They announced the cards for the US shows, and it's mostly ROH talent + foreginers from NJPW. Apparently the reason was something to do with the government shutdown and not being able to get visas for the Japanese talent, so I'm sure the internet will be completely rational in their response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 28, 2019 Report Share Posted January 28, 2019 Did anyone watch today's Road To show? Curious if anything worth checking out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted January 29, 2019 Report Share Posted January 29, 2019 I'm picking and choosing on these shows. I do like Andy Boy Simmons as Kevin Kelly's partner, so that's helping my enjoyment. On the first Road To show, I watched Okada/Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bullet Club - totally fine but nothing to go out of your way for. I also checked out the main event elimination tag, which was pretty fun, but you've seen Suzuki-Gun/LIJ already, and they worked this with an over the top rope elimination rule that seemed to drain some of the drama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 Quite liked the top 3 matches from the first main New Beginning show today - NJ Mega Powers vs. Bullet Club was better than I expected, as removing the obvious jobbers for White really improved the drama, and the two singles matches (Suzuki-Sanada, ZSJ-EVIL) both delivered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 Thought Suzuki-Sanada was the best of the bunch. I don't think I can understate how cool Tanahashi and Okada are as a team. They do feel genuinely special together and the interactions together do feel incredibly exciting such that even stringing together their signature moves feels like a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 On 1/29/2019 at 11:04 AM, Migs said: I'm picking and choosing on these shows. I do like Andy Boy Simmons as Kevin Kelly's partner, so that's helping my enjoyment. On the first Road To show, I watched Okada/Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bullet Club - totally fine but nothing to go out of your way for. I also checked out the main event elimination tag, which was pretty fun, but you've seen Suzuki-Gun/LIJ already, and they worked this with an over the top rope elimination rule that seemed to drain some of the drama. New Japan elimination tags have always counted being tossed to the floor as an elimination. It actually enhances the drama because it gives a team's lower-ranked members an avenue for taking out the higher-ranked members on the other team when it wouldn't be credible for them to get a pin or submission. Maybe the most famous example is Umanosuke Ueda's kamizake elimination of Akira Maeda in the 1986 NJPW vs. UWF elimination tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 2 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: New Japan elimination tags have always counted being tossed to the floor as an elimination. It actually enhances the drama because it gives a team's lower-ranked members an avenue for taking out the higher-ranked members on the other team when it wouldn't be credible for them to get a pin or submission. Maybe the most famous example is Umanosuke Ueda's kamizake elimination of Akira Maeda in the 1986 NJPW vs. UWF elimination tag. Hmm, perhaps I was hasty in judging the format. That sounds pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Bologna Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 That Suzuki vs. Sanada match was really something. Sanada's getting better. In their 2017 G1 match, Suzuki kept feeding him babyface comeback spots, but Sanada didn't have the personality to do anything with them. A year and a half later, and he's learned how to be compelling without sacrificing his persona. It's also worth noting that Suzuki is fifty years old, and we're going to have to start figuring out where to put him in the pantheon of great old man wrestlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 19 hours ago, William Bologna said: That Suzuki vs. Sanada match was really something. Sanada's getting better. In their 2017 G1 match, Suzuki kept feeding him babyface comeback spots, but Sanada didn't have the personality to do anything with them. A year and a half later, and he's learned how to be compelling without sacrificing his persona. It's also worth noting that Suzuki is fifty years old, and we're going to have to start figuring out where to put him in the pantheon of great old man wrestlers. I think SANADA has a serious case for most improved over the last year. Since the Okada match he's been regularly delivering in singles matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 Taichi-Naito was...interesting. Like there were some cool ideas but the execution wasn't really there. The pre-match attack angle was good but went on about five minutes longer than it needed to be. Really took the steam out of the rest of the proceedings. The rest of the match was fine and actually had some cool moments, but it still felt longer than it needed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 20 hours ago, Boss Rock said: Taichi-Naito was...interesting. Like there were some cool ideas but the execution wasn't really there. The pre-match attack angle was good but went on about five minutes longer than it needed to be. Really took the steam out of the rest of the proceedings. The rest of the match was fine and actually had some cool moments, but it still felt longer than it needed to be. Totally agreed. Just felt really slow, and wasted in the sense that we all knew Naito was coming back, and we were all pretty sure he was winning that match. Thought the top of this show as a whole was a step down from the first night in Sapporo - neither of the tag title matches did much for me either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makai Club #1 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 On 2/3/2019 at 9:39 PM, Boss Rock said: Taichi-Naito was...interesting. Like there were some cool ideas but the execution wasn't really there. The pre-match attack angle was good but went on about five minutes longer than it needed to be. Really took the steam out of the rest of the proceedings. The rest of the match was fine and actually had some cool moments, but it still felt longer than it needed to be. I agree totally with this. The ideas were good and I see what they were going for. Whilst I appreciate the effort, the execution was flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Jay White won, wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 29 minutes ago, Jmare007 said: Jay White won, wow. Wow indeed. Way too early and way to waste Tanahashi's great storyline of last year. Jay White just isn't that guy (yet ?), although he has improved a whole lot last year. The whole push seemed forced from the Tokyo Dome on, with him beating Okada and them beating down Tanahashi at every show. But winning ? I guess I'll have to see how that whole thing unfolded, but on paper not a fan at all. Plus honestly, this whole card looked really weak for NJ's standards. Bad Luck Fale in the fucking semi-main event ? Naito and Suzuki buried in six-men on the undercard ? Taguchi, who's merely been a comedy figure for ever at this point, challenging for the junior title ? If they want to run two Dome shows next year, they'll have to build to something a whole lot better than what is happening now. Seems like the Dome Show was the apex of last year, but 2019 thus far doesn't look so hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Redneck Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Not a fan of Gedo putting the title on Jay White. He seems that he will be getting the Okada push, unless Okada gets the belt back soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pete Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 With the way things transpired with AEW, Gedo must have felt like he needed to make a star and quick. They've poured a lot of time and energy into White and his storyline with Okada has been the major focus of NJPW since the 2018 New Year's Dash!! I presume they'll go with Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White either at Madison Square Garden or Dominion. Where they go from there is a mystery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 55 minutes ago, Big Pete said: With the way things transpired with AEW, Gedo must have felt like he needed to make a star and quick. They've poured a lot of time and energy into White and his storyline with Okada has been the major focus of NJPW since the 2018 New Year's Dash!! I presume they'll go with Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White either at Madison Square Garden or Dominion. Where they go from there is a mystery. You are probably right on the MSG main event. I'd like to see Naito or Ibushi challenging for the belt and winning it but that's unlikely to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Best guess - with the indication that White is in Omega's slot for this year, it was building to Okada getting the belt back at Dominion from Omega to set up Okada-Naito at the Dome. White goes into that slot, with Okada getting the belt from him (I'd guess that might be on MSG instead of Dominion to have a big moment there). As someone going to the MSG show, I sure fucking hope the path is Okada getting the belt back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 It's looking like White vs. Okada in MSG and I do believe Okada will take the belt back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaeo_ Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 At this point, it's awe-inspiring that with a roster that includes Suzuki, Goto and Ibushi, they keep finding a way to put their belt on the dullest wrestlers they can possibly find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Okada challenging White for the belt would be a much better match to main event MSG with than Tanahashi defending against Naito or Ibushi or whoever else. It may not be as good from a wrestling standpoint, but it'll have tons more heat. I still don't quite see it with White, but Gedo seems to be all in on him, and his hits as booker have far outweighed his misses. Trust the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pete Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 I missed Ibushi's promo. I'm happy to see he's staying with the company, he's the only guy left on the roster they haven't pulled the trigger on who could make a big difference. I'd love to see Ibushi/Okada at WrestleKingdom XIV. There's enough opponents for Ibushi to face in the interim like Ospreay, Tonga, White etc. to remain busy, but he'd be my pick to go one better and take the G-1. I'm also curious to see where Naito fits into the equation. The Jericho feud was a nice distraction, but since he's surfaced there isn't a lot in terms of viable opponents. It appears NJPW have recognised this and have got him cutting promos about becoming a dual champion. A Naito/White match would be a decent distraction and could solve NJPW problem of having too many belts. Certainly an interesting time ahead. It reminds me of 2016 where NJPW were scrambling to recover after losing Nakamura, Styles & Ibushi. It brought out the best in them then, 3 years on, does the promotion still have the magic touch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 6 hours ago, Jmare007 said: Jay White won, wow. Feels like a really bad decision to me. Is February usually a down time for them, after the Wrestle Kingdom shows? I just don't think Jay White is very good at all, so it feels really peculiar to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Very surprised that an El Hijo del Ted Cruz title victory has been ill-received Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 21 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: Very surprised that an El Hijo del Ted Cruz title victory has been ill-received Holy shit, that's something I'll never unsee now. I agree this seemed way too fast though. I was just starting to warm up to the idea of him as a main event level guy, and he beats Tanahashi for the title already? Not to mention Tana losing the belt after a little more than a month is like the New Japan equvalent to Kerry Von Erich losing the belt back 3 weeks after capping off an emotional storyline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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