shoe Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 The tag match was a total blast. A super fun match where everyone looked great. I could have lived w/o Gallows no selling a Double GTS though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 That tag title match was fucking great . I loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Styles and Naito had a good match. I liked the G1 better. Naito needs to avoid his token spots if he's going to sell the story of the match. Still these guys worked hard and have the best match of the night so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Suzuki v. Sakuraba wasn't bad, but was disappointing. Didn't think Suzuki was good in it at all and agree with Tim. They worked it like how WWE would work a "shootstyle" match and while I understand why they did that it hurt the match badly. Missed entire Ishii v. Makabe match due to internet/NJPW World issues. Omega is awful. Tag Title match way overdelivered and was legitimately good. AJ v. Naito wasn't as good as I hoped it might be, but had a great finish and was still solid. Nothing on this show has knocked my socks off. Terrified Okada v. Tanahashi will be an hour. Whatever you think of either guy, there is no way in hell either one has enough shit in their bag of tricks to make a match that length interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mini Bennett Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Wow, I hate to be a downer here, but I kind of just got fucked out of $40. Due to complications with the Flipps app, I've been able to see about 1 1/2 matches total. I would much rather subject myself to another so-so modern WWE PPV than have to deal with this. I don't care how good your wrestling show is. Sorry, just too stressful. Â It's a shame too. Sounds like it's been a fun show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 The last two matches I thought have been incredible. This whole show I think has been GREAT. Wiil write more tomorrow but I really have very little negative to say about this. Omega/Taguchi kinda sucked though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van_Fair Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Match of the night right here. Okada and Tanahashi have to try very hard to beat this. When Ibushi and Nakamura started kicking each other in the back of the head this went from a match to a straight up fight. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Nakamura and Ibushi have just a bad ass match. I need to watch that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witlon Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I don't know if Nakamura/Ibushi was a MOTYC, but it was definitely great. Star rating wise, ****1/4 seems right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van_Fair Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Pretty straightforward video package. Here is the ace and all his accomplishments and here is the guy coming for his place. Or Okada was talking about how much he loves that lamp. I don't know my Japanese is not good enough for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I haven't seen this many bad hairstyles since my Junior Prom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 That main event was tremendous. I loved how everytime Tanahashi needed to stop Okada's momentum he'd go to the leg. Just great story telling. The devestation in Okada's face was so emotional,and shows how important the title and winning is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 By far the best Okada/Tanahashi match. This whole show was outstanding I thought. And when was the last time a Dome crowd was that hot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Went back and watched what I missed. Good show, probably great in many respects, but a few badly timed streaming hiccups hurt my over all enjoyment. That said Ibushi v. Nakamura was a legitimately great match, and I even though I thought it was needlessly long, Okada v. Tanahashi was a good match that I enjoyed as a whole. The big problem I have coming out of the show is that Tanahashi doesn't have a single logical contender. Also worth noting early reports are 36k paid, which would be seen as a good, but perhaps mildly disappointing number before all the sellout talk, but with all of that nonsense being tossed out ahead of time it feels really poor rightly or wrongly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Nakamura-Ibushi was a blast--perfect combination of spectacular and violent. They've now had two matches I like better than any iteration of Tanahashi-Okada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stomperspc Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Went back and watched what I missed. Good show, probably great in many respects, but a few badly timed streaming hiccups hurt my over all enjoyment. That said Ibushi v. Nakamura was a legitimately great match, and I even though I thought it was needlessly long, Okada v. Tanahashi was a good match that I enjoyed as a whole. The big problem I have coming out of the show is that Tanahashi doesn't have a single logical contender. Also worth noting early reports are 36k paid, which would be seen as a good, but perhaps mildly disappointing number before all the sellout talk, but with all of that nonsense being tossed out ahead of time it feels really poor rightly or wrongly. Â No idea if they will go in this direction, but I think Suzuki could be built up as Tanahashi's next challenger rather easily. He won a "big" singles match last night and didn't have many losses on his record in the months leading up to the show. Suzuki and Tanahashi haven't wrestled in a very long time either. If Cagematch is correct, they haven't been in the ring together since the 2012 tag league. If they cross path's on tomorrow's Korakuen show in some sort of 6 or 8-man tag wit Suzuki being booked strongly against Tanahashi (or ideally pinning him), a title match in February becomes an easy sell. It also helps that their 2012 title match was very good and can be used to hype a title match. Â I'd go Tanahashi/Suzuki and Nakamaura/Styles as the two big February matches. They haven't done Nakamura/Styles yet. Styles had a big win last night and with the exception of Tanahashi, has at least won win over everyone he is faced in a singles match in New Japan so it wouldn't be difficult to plug him in as the IC title challenger. I suppose they could also do an Ibushi re-match but only if Ibushi is going to win the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Who'd've thought Ibushi/Nakamura would've been loaded with Ishikawa/Ikeda-esque potato shots? The brutality in that match was such a refreshing change from the usual forearm exchange stuff. I thought Ibushi showed a hundred times more charisma there than he ever has as a junior - the way he condescendingly laid into Nakamura was fantastic. I'm really excited to see him work as a heavyweight now. Â Thought Okada/Tanahashi was up there with Ibushi/Nakamura and I'm not usually particularly high on either guy. The video package before the match did a great job of establishing the story. My main complaint with these guys has been that they never really bring the hate and intensity you'd expect from a dynastic feud, and much of the matches often feels like rote running through moves. Neither of those complaints applied here. You know going in that even the best Tanahashi matches (that aren't against Minoru Suzuki) aren't going to feature a ton of individually interesting moments or good 'little things' work, but the story will be well-told, the big spots built to well and the match will build to a dramatic climax. I thought he delivered a great performance. I didn't even realise it went so long, and as someone who has little love for the excess-laden style of New Japan main events that may be the highest praise I can give it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I really thought the final 4 matches were really good. Again NJPW is really great at building the excitement in a card and having it get better and better. I need to re watch Nak and Ibushi since I dozed off for a few minutes they were selling. I'm really not getting the Omega-Taguchi match love from people. I thought that was a clusterfuck that had some cool moments but not enough to classify it as good. Omega felt like a guy playing pro wrestler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I thought Omega/Taguchi pretty much sucked, yeah. I guess the love it's getting in some quarters is a testament to how much a few cool moves can improve a match for some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 So, I thought this show was great but still feel somehow lower than most despite me throwing out a lot of snowflakes. Dylan doesn't like Tanahashi vs. OKada as a series but both OhtaniJacket and myself have point to matches in the series we really like. Shoe has been a proponent of New Japan last month of so. I think the problem still lies in the middle matches that some reviews just seemingly have to justify is good. I will use Voice as Wrestling as they are consistently the best source of New Japan coverage. I fail to see where Makabe vs. Ishii was **** or OMega vs. Taguchi being considered good at ***1/4. This is where my disconnect comes with New Japan to an extent, most of the great matches that are MOTYC, I agree with. It is that middle portion where other reviewers (Joe Lanza, Jason Felix, Bryan Rose) have multiple matches at **** or hovering around and I am around the *** mark. That still classifies a good match but I think giving those huge ratings to every show is extreme and generous at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stomperspc Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 So, I thought this show was great but still feel somehow lower than most despite me throwing out a lot of snowflakes. Dylan doesn't like Tanahashi vs. OKada as a series but both OhtaniJacket and myself have point to matches in the series we really like. Shoe has been a proponent of New Japan last month of so. I think the problem still lies in the middle matches that some reviews just seemingly have to justify is good. I will use Voice as Wrestling as they are consistently the best source of New Japan coverage. I fail to see where Makabe vs. Ishii was **** or OMega vs. Taguchi being considered good at ***1/4. This is where my disconnect comes with New Japan to an extent, most of the great matches that are MOTYC, I agree with. It is that middle portion where other reviewers (Joe Lanza, Jason Felix, Bryan Rose) have multiple matches at **** or hovering around and I am around the *** mark. That still classifies a good match but I think giving those huge ratings to every show is extreme and generous at times. Â I agree with this. There is definitely a shift in the curve and that's not just a wrestling star rating related issue. Unless someone truly believes that there is significantly more good wrestling these days than bad, in theory the majority of matches should fall in the "average" range (** - *** range if using star ratings). I feel the vast majority of matches I watch these days leave me thinking "that was fine" which to me is the definition of an average match. There is nothing wrong with those matches and there shouldn't be anything wrong with stating that a match was average. Average is fine. I like average matches. However, there is definitely a school of thought that sees "average" as "bad" (or at least "not good"). So if someone likes a match, they feel the need to label it as something more than average in order to get across that they liked the match or at least thought it was "fine". Â The obvious analogy would be to school grades where this shift has been going on for a while. A C-grade should mean that te student is average and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that, but average is often seen as bad in that regard. Â I am very much into current New Japan. I wake up for all the big shows and watch as much of it as I can. At the same time, I only had a pair of 2014 NJPW matches in the **** 1/2 surefire MOTYC range last year (G1 finals and Suzuki/Styles). I did however view a ton of NJPW matches as being in the average to good range (** 1/2 to *** 1/4 or so if we are talking stars). A promotion that has a lot more average-ish or above stuff is still a really great promotion and one I can get invested in. Like Chad, I liked last night's show. I thought the final two matches were upper tier level matches, the tag title match was good, and basically everything was average or better. I just don't necessarily think it was a show with two blow-away (***** range) matches and four others at or around ****. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Hiro Saito hitting Sentons on everybody was glorious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Someone with a better memory than me can say, but I thought I heard Meltzer on his show say he had 7 matches at 4* or better. I had 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Finally finished the show after falling asleep during Omega/Taguchi. Omega's offense was good, and while it wasn't a blow away match, it was as interested in a Taguchi match as I have been in a while. The tag match was shockingly good, and by far the best match Guns and Gallows had. Styles and Naito had a really solid match, but we're blown away by the last two matches. Nakamura and Ibushi were shockingly violent and went to a different level. Then the main event.....definitely did not feel too long to me. Shocked that Tanahashi won, but that match built to a really hot finish that I thought was great. Â I still do not get the air guitar though. Â Really curious what Okada does going forward. Might be that not having a belt around his waist while his CHAOS teammate does starts to bother him a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 So all this talk of great NJ booking and how they set up the story beautifully for Okada to win. What happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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