New Japan: New Beginning Tour

[hammerva]

Granted I have followed much of Fale but watching Okada feuding with him is like watching Randy Orton trying to feud with David Otunga. And no I am not compared Orton to Okada because that is almost heresy in some places it was more of a placement on the company. Anyway I don't care if you took 2 or 3 months of Otunga getting over I still look at and see complete bullshit. To me a Tama Tonga vs Okada feud is more realistic

 

As a complete newbie to New Japan can someone explain the fascination with Taguchi. He seems like a comedy guy most of the times I see him. He plays face in peril well but 90% of his offense is hitting guys with his ass.

[Mad Dog]

He's been around forever and been pretty loyal. He works well with most of the guys on the roster.

[shoe]

1. Sho Tanaka vs. Jay White

I really enjoyed this. White's arm work was pretty good. Tanaka sold it big here and made it mean so much more than it would. My complaint about Tanaka prior was that he oversold at times. When his opponent is there, Tanaka can match it. Finish was kinda bland with the build. 2 3/4 *

2. Tiger Mask IV & Yohei Komatsu vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish

Good stuff all around. I loved the Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard homage spot. 2 1/2*

3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada

Another fun bout. They really have kind of mastered the multi man match with their roster. 2 1/2 *

4. Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Matt & Nick Jackson

I can see people getting tricked into thinking this was the best match on the card. Their was a lot of spots that got over with the crowd. We got the suck it stuff. It was fun. It was good and actually built well. It didn't come close to having the backbone like the opening match had though. I did think the Time Splitters worked their asses off in this. 2 3/4 *

5.Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

Pretty nothing match. The thing I liked the most out of this was the Gedo-Fale big man little man interactions. Guess what they aren't building to that match. This is a prime example when people talk about being a smart worker you can still have entertaining stuff. I get how people get got up in the athleticism of stuff and how it has evolved into what is wrestling nowadays. I don't think many people will say Gedo > than Okada as a worker. Well here Gedo outworked him by using his mind to tell a compelling story. 1 1/2*

6. Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito & Captain New Japan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI

My favorite part of this match was Captai NJ and Yanos interactions, and nakamura and Nagata's exchanges. Naito is FIP and and is fine in the role. He's fine because he really just needs to do a basic sell job nothing nuanced like selling a limb.The Makabe and Ishii exchanges looked weak.With that said they were able to execute to a real satisfying finish. 2 1/2*

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega 2 1/4*

A pair of heels that don't resonate at all with me..This was ok. I really wasn't expecting much though to be honest.

This was another solid card. Their is a lot of talent on the cards. One thing that is jarring seeing these houseshows is how much harder the likes of Cena,Daniel Bryan,Dean Ambrose, and in their heyday Ric Flair, and Tito Santana based on attending houseshows, handheld footage that's around, and if they worked WWE televised houseshows. The NJPW guys work the houseshows kinda like Bret Hart did. Do enough to keep the fans happy. I'm not bouncing people out of my top 100 GWOAT because of this criteria. It could possibly kick them out of my top 10. This is just a small sampling size, but their is a trend where the undercard is out working the main events on this tour.I know their is a lot of Tanahashi love out there. To me his effort on these type of houseshows should be a blemish against him being a top 10 guy.

[soup23]

I have thought about that in the greatest wrestler ever stuff Pete but moreso in the WOTY stuff for an individual. Nakamura when compared with Tana and Okada has been working harder on the lesser shows so far this year but he certainly hasn't had a performance that comes close to matching the WK output and I would like to see more. Maybe it is just the way the top matches are structured but why can't we see him work a underneath singles match. I watched this show right after watching the stuff for WTBBP and was blown away by how much harder Arn seemed to be working on a throwaway Tommy Rich match than any of the top stars here. That is kind of jarring when watching in context and when evaluating workers overall for the GWE.

 

I am still uncertain as to who is winning the top matches at New Beginning big shows and when things like Okada's rehab will start to kick in full force.

[Superstar Sleeze]

My question is do we know if Hashimoto, Tenryu, Misawa etc... would work hard on shows such as there? I think the one distinct advantage with Japanese wrestlers is I am more likely only sampling from the above average of the distribution because they made sure to turn it on for TV. With New Japan now televising house shows it is exposing Tanahashi & Co. or just the systemic Japanese model of delivering fun house shows, but leaving the great wrestling for the bigger shows?

 

As for New Japan booking, I think Nakamura is the way to go and build to Styles/Nakamura at either 5/3 Fukokua show or later in October since Nakamura/Tanahashi is done to death. Then Okada/Nakamura at the Dome. I like how New Japan has clearly established a top 4, but as All Japan from 90s has shown you really need two more pieces to have a great roster for the year. I would like them to elevate one current member of the roster and bring in one outsider. I really think if you get two more pieces, New Japan would be really unstoppable.

[Mad Dog]

I always thought it was accepted practice in Japan to phone it in on C shows like these. You're just supposed to tag in, do your big shit and get out without hurting yourself.

[soup23]

Can only speak from the fancam stuff I have seen but Hashimoto and Tenryu are pretty great in it and Misawa (someone with a rep of dogging it at house shows) looked stronger than Tanahashi and Okada have on this tour so far.

[shoe]

I always thought it was accepted practice in Japan to phone it in on C shows like these. You're just supposed to tag in, do your big shit and get out without hurting yourself.

It might be the norm, it doesn't make it right. I don't expect them to go 100%, not even close. I expect better story telling . An example of that would be what Gedo, or the Young Lions did. Just a better use of storytelling.

[soup23]

2/11/15 Airing on Demand on New Japan World

(1) Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu

Their usual rock solid opening match together. This featured a little more viciousness than usual in the early going and some good escapes at the end. Glad to see Tanaka win. **3/4
(2) Tiger Mask IV & Mascara Dorada vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan

Bummer about White getting pulled as he has been one of the big discussion points of the tour up to this point. This had some good big vs. little spots but was ultimately forgettable besides Dorada winning and continuing his overall push. **
(3) Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rob Conway & Chase Owens

I didn't like this at all. The Conway vs. Tenzan sections was lifeless and Conway wasn't affective at doing anything. Owens wasn't much better. Top on LIger being and idiot at the finish and you have a ugh match. Liger being tricked by Maria is funny, him giving attention whore Tharpe the time of day when he has Owens beat was stupid. *3/4
(4) Tomoaki Honma vs. Kota Ibushi

Great match that got better as it went along. The match wasn't a body part selling masterpiece and they may have thrown too many moves, but I was hanging on every hope spot of Honma and I loved how dominant Ibushi felt overall. This was a match this show really needed when it took place. ****

(5) IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship 3WAY Match: [39th Champions] Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. [Challengers] KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. [Challengers] Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson
~ 2nd title defense

Great spotfest. I may not rate this as highly as others but in this type of match, execution plays a bigger role in my overall enjoyment and the execution was nearly flawless here. Too many spots to name,, this was just tremendously entertaining and I liked it better than Balor vs. Neville as a spotfest match on the day as a whole. ***1/2
(6) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: [70th Champion] Kenny Omega vs. [Challenger] Ryusuke Taguchi
~ 1st title defense

I hated the WK match and this was worse. Omega's gimmick sucks and I think most people should have come to that realization by now. The opening portion of this match was worked around inserting a flagpole into the wrestler's ass. Just dreadful and the worst New Japan match I have seen this year. *

(7) Special 6 Man Tag Match: Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga

There was nothing to this at all. Sakuraba was a non-factor, Yujiro and Fale are bad. Okada doesn't care. The highlight was legit Yano shrugging his shoulders which I wish I could do to this whole thing and Okada rehab storyline. He does get the win here so I guess he was only struggling for a month and he may be on the road to rehab. *1/2
(8) Special 6 Man Tag Match: Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI

Much better than the previous match although not all that good either. There is just something about these New Japan 6-mans that never deliver it seems. A spot show is more excusable but this is a PPV. I don't think Nakamura is as good as Misawa, Kawada but you really take for granted those roll out of bed ***1/4 six-mans All Japan was churning out in the early 90's. KOjima vs.. Ishii was much more engaging than the Makabe vs. Ishii interactions to me and man does Osaka not like Naito which made a nice dynamic of him going against Yoshi-Hashi. **1/2

(9) IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: [65th Champions] Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. [Challengers] Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
~ 1st title defense

Disappointing considering their match at WK was really fun. This was worked in a trad tag strutucure for the first part but BC didn't do much of note on top. Then the finishing stretch happens where everything loses emphasis. How many times in this match was Shibata going to do the forearm into the corner spot. **1/4

 

(10) IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: [61st Champion] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. [Challenger] AJ Styles
~ 2nd title defense

I have already seen some people including ALan 4L declare that these guys don't have chemistry. I thought this was a great match and refreshing in the overall NJ landscape. It took it's time to develop. The back work by Styles was good although Tana could have sold it more down the stretch. I wasn't bothered by the BC interference as it was minimal and led to the payback spot of the HFF on top of them. The dueling low blow stuff was fun and Tana is always most endearing to me when he shows a vicious streak. The finish played into the tour in regards to the styles Clash move and was succinct and brutal. ****

 

Overall the matches I thought would deliver did and the matches I thought would suck did. The tag title match was disappointing. The booking is laughably bad and I think we can put to rest the Gedo/Jado are geniuses stuff for the time being. We will see how the Sendai show delivers.

[shoe]

(1) Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu

 

These guys delivered again. They had a real good opening match which is the norm for them. I'm going to miss them when they go on their journey to learn other styles. 2 3/4*

 

2. Tiger Mask IV & Mascara Dorada vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan

 

This was fun, but nothing special. It was good for a showcase for Dorada. I hope he's able to take down Omega because he's been a bust so far in my eyes.

 

(3) Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rob Conway & Chase Owens

 

I was most impressed with Tharpe in this. He plays a great Blassie like heel manager. I want to see more Owens. He seems to have some hot moves. I want to see if he's able to have some meat to him. I haven't seen him wrestle enough to have an opinion on him. I liked Conway's mimicking of Tenzan spots. 2 1/4*

 

4) Tomoaki Honma vs. Kota Ibushi

 

My favorite match on the show. I thought this was risky putting Ibushi against Honma because of Honma's poularity. I thought they worked a great match with Ibushi on top. They timed all of Honmas offesne real well. On top of that I liked Honma working the neck area of Ibushi. That deadlift suplex was my 2nd favorite spot of the show. The post match was great. 4 *

 

5. IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship 3WAY Match: [39th Champions] Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. [Challengers] KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. [Challengers] Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson

 

This was one hell of a spotfest. Just so many hot moves. One of the things that really stood out to me was how the Time Splitters set up the Bucks on the arm spot, and just went to town on it. I thought we would see reDragon continue with that theme, but no we didn't. I want to slap the taste out of the Bucks mouths so they're doing their jobs well. 3 3/4*

 

6. Kenny Omega vs. [Challenger] Ryusuke Taguchi

 

Fuck this fell off a cliff fast. I liked the 1st minute or 2 with Omega really working the arm in some real fun ways then the match shit the bed. I mean sodomy for Christ sakes. Revenge Sosdomy spots. Good grief. I have a short leash on Omega at this point. I'm paraying for a Mascara Dorada title change upcoming and maybe breath some like into the title. 1 1/4*

 

(7) Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga

 

A boring waste of time. Nothing all that interesting. 1 1/2*

 

8. Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI

 

Their is enough talent here to have a really good match. It was disjointed with everyone doing their own thing with no building on what anyone else was doing. Naito getting booed out of the building didn't help. Felt like a 1st fall of a Lucha match with people pairing off. 2 1/2*

 

9. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. [Challengers] Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows

 

I couldn't believe they switched the titles. I enjoyed this. My favorite spot of the show was Shibata running into Gallows punch. I liked Shibata in the shine trying to chop down Gallows. Kinda wish he sold the leg kicks and Figure 4 a bit. I know he's trying to work like a monster, but selling leg work shouldn't be blown off. This was worked like a Southern Tag with some variations and a little bit more back and forth. I liked the shine, could have gone longer. Anderson and Gallows work on top had a WWF 80's heel tag team feel to it. Some was interesting, and some were plodding. I like the fishing run where things were crissed crossed up. 3 1/4*

 

Tanahashi vs. Styles

 

I really liked a lot of this. I loved the early struggle of working holds. Styles selling of the holds really helped make it work. Tanahashi missing the back senton on the floor was a great transition for Styles to work the back. I thought Styles was great at working it. When Tanahasi got busted open on the High Fly Flow to the outside the match lost its way. It seemed Tanahashi was a bit out of it. It didn't kill the match, he just seemed a tad off. I thought Styles should have been more vicious on the cut. Still this was good stuff. 3 3/4*

 

 

Final thoughts. This was a thumbs up show. It had plenty of throwaway matches. Still too much good stuff. Kenny Omega has been a bust so far for me. They also need to get a boost of new talent in the mix. It's easier said than done. Still the wrestling was really good.

[soup23]

I cant believe the opener was sub 6 minutes, felt much longer and I mean that in a good way.

 

I wonder if Tharpe looks better in comparison due to no one else in wrestling in that stage doing this type of act currently. I'm not saying that his act is bad persay but it always strikes me as unique first.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the main event and I am baffled/disappointed in some of the criticism that has been levied toward the match. They may not have done as much stuff overall as in other IWGP matches but everything besides the back work in the back half of the match served a purpose and crafted an overall narrative.

[shoe]

I thought the work in the build in the main event was done really well. For telling a story it did it's job. People have different tastes in wrestling. I get that, I've never understood criticizing smart work though.

[stomperspc]

Granted I have followed much of Fale but watching Okada feuding with him is like watching Randy Orton trying to feud with David Otunga. And no I am not compared Orton to Okada because that is almost heresy in some places it was more of a placement on the company. Anyway I don't care if you took 2 or 3 months of Otunga getting over I still look at and see complete bullshit. To me a Tama Tonga vs Okada feud is more realistic

 

I understand not seeing much in Fale but over the past year+ he has been booked more than strong enough to work a short term feud with Okada. Since the start of 2014, he has singles wins over Naito (twice), Nakamura, Ishii, Tanahashi & Shibata. His finisher is probably one of the more protected finishers in wrestling in 2015. He has won far more than he has lost over the past three years and I am guessing the vast majority of his losses are tags where he doesn't take the pin. He spent a good portion of 2014 feuding with Nakamura and in the end it was a harmless digression.

 

The reality is that Okada is the only wrestler under 30 on the New Japan roster who is at or seemingly could get to that true top tier level. There is a good chance he is going to have to shoulder most of the main event workload for a several year period in the near future. As long as guys like Nakamura and Tanahashi are viable main eventers, it makes sense to back off on Okada's push here and there. Otherwise you get three years down the road when those guys are slowing down and 30-year old Okada might already feel stale. I think it makes sense to preserve him for the future now by giving him the occasional mid-card feud against someone like Fale who is at least protected by the booking.

[hammerva]

Curious that Naito got a very negative reaction from the crowd. Did he do something heelish because I didn't picture the New Japan crowd being the "we will boo the baby faces we don't like" type. It isn't like he is being pushed hard although him working Styles at Wrestle Kingdom seems weird now

[soup23]

Naito getting boo'd is a holdover from his 2013 G-1 win and run that resulted in the crowd turning on him and bumping up Nakamura vs. Tanahashi as the main event of WrestleKingdom based off of fan vote. Osaka is the most vocal crowd against him.

[Dylan Waco]

Really enjoyed the Sendai show as a whole, but I wonder if I'm the only one who was slightly disappointed by Honma/Ishii. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great match, and they made shockingly good use of some tired tropes, but they are still tired tropes. Yes there chop exchange was about as good a one as I've seen and it fits their characters, but I'm still sort of over it. I still consider it a MOTYC, but watching it in close proximity with the Sin Cara v Cesaro match from Main Event I didn't come away thinking it was demonstratably better (though it's obvious which of those had higher stakes and a bigger feel).

[soup23]

I really enjoyed the match but certainly see those criticisms. I will need to rewatch without a live setting as I was really amazed at how invested I was in the match overall knowing Honma had a less than 5% chance of winning.

 

I think overall between heavy New Japan fans, you are starting to see some fatigue on the style overall between the Ishii stuff and the IWGP junior tag. I am still amazed the triple threat tag from Osaka isn't getting more play as for a spotfest, high octane match, I thought it was pretty awesome with everything hit cleanly. Most of the reviews however, had it as another entry.

[Dylan Waco]

I thought it was a great spotfest too fwiw.

[pol]

I thought the chop battle was pretty dull (though the forearm battle that preceded it was one of the most spirited examples in recent memory), but I totally dug all the other stuff that I usually hate in NJPW main events - the no-selling and one-kickouts. I think it may simply come down the fact that I was, for once, genuinely emotionally invested and that stuff just works better when that's the case. If I'm right about that, it gets harder for me to fault them for going to that well so often just because it usually doesn't do it for me as a more detached, analytical viewer.

 

I haven't rewatched the match yet, but I'd imagine it probably won't come off as well when I do. I'm not sure how I should take that into account in my evaluation of a match though. It feels unfair to penalise a match that gripped me on a visceral level more than anything since Shield vs. Wyatts last February just because, when looking at it with more detached eyes, it doesn't hold up as well. I think that first impression is the most important.

[kjh]

I preferred the Bucks/Omega vs. Time Splitters/Dorada trios match from Sendai to the triple threat tag, which, for me, had a more organic feel and the big spots were more impactful. I'm probably an outlying opinion on that, but I'm not the biggest fan of matches that seem overly choreographed and don't let moments breathe.

[pol]

I think overall between heavy New Japan fans, you are starting to see some fatigue on the style overall between the Ishii stuff and the IWGP junior tag. I am still amazed the triple threat tag from Osaka isn't getting more play as for a spotfest, high octane match, I thought it was pretty awesome with everything hit cleanly. Most of the reviews however, had it as another entry.

 

This is an interesting point that totally fits with my anecdotal experience. I've seen a lot more "good Ishii match, but I've seen enough of these" and "man, can we have some big Junior tag matches that aren't 3/4-ways" type sentiments following this show. I thought the Junior tag was maybe the best NJPW Junior multi-team tag of the past year. If I were feeling like being a cynical dick, I might float the theory that when you're undiscerning enough that every NJPW big match is a ****+ affair by default it becomes easier to fall victim to burnout and fail to recognise when something truly standout is happening.

[Strand Peanut]

Makes sense there'd be a bit of burn out from the fans at this point. There was a similar effect with NOAH when many stateside fans discovered it thru the deals made with ROH.

 

You begin with the excitement of the new, into a deeper appreciation and understanding, into "I've seen this."

 

When did the current wave of english speaking fandom really kick in? Okada's push to the top?

[Dylan Waco]

Yeah, I would say the rise of Okada is really when the current wave started to becoming meaningfully large. I would cite the Okada/Naito K Hall match as the real turning point where NJPW became THE promotion for many hardcore fans.

 

On Ishii/Honma I would note that I think how they worked the no selling, kickout, long strike exchange tropes was really good, and it fits their character(s). I also agree that the high stakes nature of the match added to it, as did the crowd. And I have no problem with people calling it their MOTY. That said, it didn't hit me in the gut the way the Rumble 3-way (which I liked a hair less than some) or Ibushi v. Nakamura did on first watch. Part of that may be that I didn't watch it live and I did watch the other two live. But another part of it is that even when certain things are done well and make sense within the context of peoples characters/style, it's not always what I want to see.

[Shining Wiz]

Did you know Ishii was going to win? Nine quarters of the fun was that even though you KNEW he wasn't, they sure made it feel like he would. Knowing the outcome would really kill that.

[shoe]

I had it at 4 1/2*. I watched it live. Even though I knew Ishii was going over I bought into everything they did. The drama was off the charts. Eventually they had me thinking upset. That is a testament to great work.