FMKK Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 I saw someone elsewhere describe Will vs Zack as fine dining while Shingo vs Goto was steak with no frills. I think that's a pretty good description. Both were awesome but Will vs Zack might be my favourite match of the year so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 4 minutes ago, FMKK said: I saw someone elsewhere describe Will vs Zack as fine dining while Shingo vs Goto was steak with no frills. I think that nails it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Okada/Taichi was great, with Taichi being the star of the show. Don't think it's his best, I think the G1 Naito match and the Ishii trilogy were all better, but it's certainly up there. Loved ZSJ/Ospreay, thought it was Match of the Weekend, but have it slightly behind their RevPro match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 The ZSJ-Ospreay finishing sequence from the elimination match at Korakuen this morning was also excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 In an hour, I'll be on the train to Osaka. I am very stoked for this show. Every match has something I can hang my hat on:  - The opener is Manabu Nakanishi's last match in Osaka. I've always loved Nakanishi. I am proud to say that I got to see him wrestle in Osaka, where he is hugely popular, when he was IWGP champ. I bet he will get an emotional goodbye from the Osaka Jo crowd today. - The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match... is a championship match. - The Eight-man tag team match is a chance to see Tanahashi live again. Plus it has the mystery element of whether Ibushi has sufficiently recovered from Mallory-Weiss Syndrome to participate in the match. Plus story-line stuff about the tag championship. - Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun is a chance to see Okada live again, as well as a chance to see a bit of a re-run of Ospreay vs ZSJ. - Jay White vs Sanada is likely to be pretty good, and it's a chance to see an upper-card singles match outside of the G1 or the New Japan Cup. Booking wise, it could go either way. - Hiromu vs Lee has show-stealing potential, and it will be my first time seeing a big Hiromu singles match live and in person. - Mox vs MiSu could be great. One of those matches where, years down the road, I will be ale to say, "I was there live for that one" and people will be all, "Lucky you!" At the very least, some ass is going to get kicked. - And, I get to see Naito's first-ever defense of the double titles. Lucky me!  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav'oh Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 It's amazing how many little things you can get done around the house during a Naito vs Kenta match, and I like Naito and I like Kenta's heel work. Top turnbuckle was man-of-the-match for mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Great show. Suzuki/Moxley was MOTN and just a great brawl. Naito/KENTA felt a bit like an inferior version of Naito/White at WK, still good mind you but could have been better. Lee/Takahashi could have been an all-time great sprint if they trimmed everything down to 15 minutes, but it was still a great match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 I am really glad I got to see that live. I arrived a little early and my friend was slightly delayed, so I spent the better part of half an hour making Naito's round-eye taunt at anyone wearing Tranquilo or LIJ gear. There was a steady stream of people wearing Tranquilo or LIJ gear, between Osaka Jo station and Osaka Jo Hall. Almost everyone smiled and returned the gesture. Manabu got a great send-off. I was pleased to be one of the thousands chanting for him. After that, you could genuinely feel the crowd holding back during the rest of the undercard, it was like we all knew we had to save our energy and our voices for the last three matches. Veteran crowd. A lot of serious wrestling fans.  It was particularly noticeable during the Sanada vs White match. Then, from Hiromu's entrance onward the crowd let go, and kept getting more and more and more into it. We were flat-out rabid during the main event. I really hope that came across watching on TV or the internet or whatever. I totally, unreservedly, utterly enjoyed each of the last three matches.  It's very difficult to pick a favourite. Hiromu vs Lee had the rake-gag version of the Kobashi vs Kensuke/Tenryu vs Hashimoto chop overkill - which was insanely fun to watch live. My whole section (I Block) was rolling with laughter as it just kept going and going... and even up in the nose-bleeds, some of those chops sounded sick. I mean, it was loud up there. And then came the insane highspots section, and the thud on some of those bumps was truly scary. You could feel the whole crowd catch their breath whenever they teased the Phoenixplex. My heart was in my throat a couple of times. Hiromu has crazy charisma in person. Again, you could clearly feel it even all the way up in row 15 of I Block. MiSu and Mox also have that crazy charisma. I was planning to cheer exclusively for MiSu, but I found myself chanting Mox's name when he was fighting from underneath. A nice 15-minute serio-comic exploration of the concept of manly toughness, with both guys earning shocked laughter from the crowd with their psychotic smiles, and with the obvious joy they took in both dishing out and taking violence and pain. Maybe not the all-time classic I was hoping for, but so much fun live. I was marking out non-stop. And finally, my first in-person post-modern epic half-hour NJPW title match (the last NJPW title match I saw live was, I believe, Nakanishi vs Tanahashi in 2009 which I also really enjoyed). It was a very, very pro-Naito crowd overall, but KENTA had a surprisingly large number of little pockets of support. People were chanting his name throughout the arena... but even more so everyone else was going nuts for Naito and booing KENTA like crazy. It was so much fun to be a part of that. I love, love, loved the 5-minute opening stooge fest. They took us up, brought us down, then blew the roof off the place. Naito's crimson mask was clearly visible in the cheap seats. KENTA kind of reminded me of SUWA in their classic match-up from 2005. Just heeling it up like a madman. The eruption when Naito won, and the huge reaction to the roll call and the confetti cannon were the best thing about the show. I got actual goosebumps. I can easily imagine that all three matches had stuff that I would nit-pick if I were watching them at home after the fact. I don't necessarily think that any of them will make a ton of noise in the 2020 MOTY discussions... but I had the time of my life in Osaka Jo Hall tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 One nice thing about the cheap seats, you really get to enjoy the light show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenese Sarwieh Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 A awesome show with a cool junior tag match and were the three main matches delivered. What a career revival KENTA has had since coming back to japan. He's not the same performer as he was in the past but he's making up for it in character work being a dickhead to the crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 Really good show with Hiromu-Lee being MOTN. Those Phoenix Plex teases man...They got a bit destroyer-happy near the end but another excellent chapter to their neverending rivalry. Mox-Suzuki was the violent brawl I hoped it would be although the final chair sequence felt a bit contrived. Since Mox wore an eyepatch in NJPW I expect his arm to be bandaged up tomorrow on Dynamite, heh. Roppongi 3K-SZGK was really good and hopefully a sign that 3K will get a decent reign this time. The main event was really good but felt like they didn't really kick things into a new gear until Naito got busted open. I liked that they worked a more consistent pace without your usual padding, but I think there could have been more escalation. All in all, a great week of shows for NJPW and 2020 continues to get off to a great start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 While not quite reaching the heights of their G1 match, Shingo vs Ishii was another stellar match between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 Agreed on Shingo-Ishii. RPG3K vs. Mega-Coaches was good but by God did it feel 10 minutes longer than it actually was. Golden Aces-G.O.D. was pretty good if not great and actually makes the tag scene interesting. Think this is the first time since starting to watch NJPW 4 years ago are every single title held by people I like and would push. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 Everyone who's no less than a casual fan of the promotion should watch the last two matches of today's Nakanishi retirement show. The semifinal was highlighted by the Shingo/Ishii and Shingo/Ospreay segments while also teasing Naito/Ospreay. Its about as great as a match can be where the talent involved doesn't go all out and was essentially just below the four star mark in my book. It left you wanting more in this setting and from multiple singles matches. There's not much more you can ask for from this kind of talent on a minor show. The main event was also fantastic. Nagata and Kojima are still capable wrestlers but Tenzan and Nakanishi are as shot as Lincoln. Despite that this was an awesome affair because the current gen stars went out of their way to heel and sell for the dads until the stretch run where the all star team took out Nakanishi 4 on 1. Its really incredible. You've got these older vets who to varying levels have at best been phased out over the last couple years and at worst been rendered opening card sympathy acts. Despite that, they're positioned here as a top act, even if just for 20 minutes. Its so easy given what they've accomplished throughout their careers. You could easily envision this in WWE with acts like the Hardys, Angle, or countless others in 2020. But its also as likely there as the Jetsons. It wouldn't be so sad if it weren't so simple. But it'll never happen, not even for a night. Nakanishi's retirement ceremony afterwards was also great and along with Tiger Hattori's sandwiching the Ishii/Shingo NEVER title match made for a terrific week despite no major events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 I love the New Japan retirement ceremonies - watching tough old men cry together is always moving. Pretty good week of shows - some big matches, lots of fun little things on the undercards (my favorite moment may have been the Yano-Cabana you-go-I-go where Okada walked between them and said "I go"), a little bit of a preview for where things are going (I would be stoked for Ospreay-Naito). Pretty excited for Naito-Hiromu and then for the Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 All shows through March 15 cancelled because of the Corona Virus. Not sure what they'll do here - loaded shows for the end of the tour if they can get clearance to run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Brown Koko Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 Where can Nakanishi’s final match be viewed? I can’t find it anywhere.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 Is it not on NJPW world? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 It's up there. February 22nd show (and they've separated that show into individual matches now, too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted May 25, 2020 Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 With the emergency state finally coming to an end in Japan, it'll be interesting to hear if New Japan plans to get back into activity. They have been the most responsible of any of the big companies, by far, shutting down immediately despite a business model still heavily depending on live shows (they haven't even fired anyone, now imagine doing that). If you compare with what happened with sumo, the NSK had cancelled the May basho after running the March one in an empty building (which was basically the first empty arena shows I watched) and one rikishi actually died fro Covid a few weeks ago. The July basho should take place without spectators. Does that mean NJ could produce empty arena shows now first before allowing spectators to come back ? I remember the last day at Korakuen where 100% of the audience wore masks and it was a pretty striking visual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted May 25, 2020 Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 This is what their pro sports schedule is looking like apparently, so we're probably gonna see them starting up again on June 19. I wouldn't be against them making the G1 smaller just for this year and scrapping one of the tag leagues to run the BOSJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted May 26, 2020 Report Share Posted May 26, 2020 So...scrapping the Jr. Tag League for the BOSJ instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted May 26, 2020 Report Share Posted May 26, 2020 That would be ideal honestly. Winner goes to WK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted May 26, 2020 Report Share Posted May 26, 2020 You'd have to think the plans for the tag leagues were being altered anyway because of the late G1. They could do both tag leagues on the same tour? Might be more fun anyway, and cover for the leagues being a bit smaller because of travel restrictions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 I wonder if they should even do G1 anyway considering it's such a big ticket mover for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.