Tim Cooke Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 There are a lot of cicumstances surrounding that match, but the one part Joe had control over.. he failed at. Unless the goal was to be not big in japan. I don't know what this means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNLister Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 The thing I don't get about the split 'big' shows is they still stick everyone on the card and wind up with 9 or 10 matches, including a bunch of six-mans and eight-mans. If they really have plenty of top guys over, they should surely be able to literally split the roster across two shows, do six or seven matches on a show, and give plenty of time to all the big matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 This isn't a split show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 This is happening early Sunday Morning. Parts me are glad they've kind of diluted the show. This gives the Bucks/Ropangi Vice an opportunity to have a killer match. AJ/Ibushi should be great. Will the guys work hard in the Multi mans on a big show. If they do, it could give the show a different dynamic that could only benefit NJPW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I really enjoyed the show today, everything was enjoyable. Expected a bit more from the main event, but by no means was it a bad match. Apparently there were stream issues, but I didnt have any of those problems. Wont spoil anything, but I cannot wait for Dontaku now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 New Japan has excelled at changing things up right when I'm starting to get tired of their shows. I've really enjoyed them throwing out some new matches for the main event scene the last month or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Ive only watched the main event but I expected the good but disappointing thoughts. I thought it was a breath of fresh air that didn't go into complete overkill or have extended leg work that would get blown off by Ibushi with the home stretch. AJ did just enough damage in the early going for it to come back in his leg submission and the teased super moves of Ibushi was effective and teased throughout. As a first match in a series, I thought it was really good and certainly a thought that there is more left in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stomperspc Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I only watched the first half last night, but Young Bucks vs. Romero/Barretta was a lot better than I expected. More southern tag in nature than a lot of Young Buck matches. My favorite match from the first half of show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I had the dreaded technical issues. So I'll watch the show tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 9,500 attendance is great for pretty much a 1 match show with "new" faces on too. But not a sellout...does Sumo Hall can't hold 10-11k anymore with New Japan's setting or did Meltz got it wrong like at WK ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Apparently the sumo boxes only hold two people instead of four. Not sure how accurate that is but it would probably account for the 1500-2500 drop off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 AJ/Ibushi felt like the first 20 minutes of a good broadway. Maybe watching so much 90s All Japan lately has warped my expectations but it just never seemed to get out of second gear. The crowd being puzzlingly dead didn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJH Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I'll echo what Karl put above and say it was a fun show all the way through. In a way, it's kind of like WrestleMania with a couple of Orton/Seth's but nothing on the level of Lesnar/Reigns. The Jr. Tag was all kinds of fun in particular: one part the expected spot fest and one part a comedy match. And I too liked how pulled back the main event was: it had plenty of nice spots (I especially liked the Styles Clash tease amongst the cradle sequence) and an emphatic finish, but they also left themselves plenty of room to go bigger in the future. And, yeah, whilst it wasn't sold out, Sumo looked pretty damn full, the 9k figure seems realistic, and for what the card was that has to be considered a success. On the boxes, I believe they're sold as one ticket, and can seat four, but don't always, and plenty of people bought the box seats in 2's and 3's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Other than that though, the card seems kinda weak. On paper, it looks like shit. I'm not a big fan of about half of the regulars that NJPW insists on using. The Styles/Ibuki match might be good, so I'll probably seek that out. I don't think I care about any of the other matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Just finished the main event (had to skip the Tanahashi tag and Okada slaying Fale because I value sleep), haven't read any thoughts anywhere, some quick take aways: - Ropongi Vice looks pretty good. I really enjoyed that match, and a fresh team in the juniors is.....refreshing. - I had low/no expectations for Kingdom, but again, really enjoyed that match. Anderson being enraptured at the end was silly, but getting there was fun, and anything that ends Guns and Gallows and gets Anderson back as a single, I'm all for. - really enjoyed the interactions between Nakamura and Goto. I'm looking forward to seeing that feud play out for the next while. Also, Makabe and Ishii tearing into each other is fun. I like that they didn't blw that match off here. Finally, Naito is the odd man out right now. He's got nothing on the go, which makes me think he and Ibushi might tag up a bit before the G1. - A month of the G1? Yes please, but my wife is going to HATE me in July. - Styles and Ibushi had a really good match I thought. From Omega quietly coming out, Styles taunting early, Ibushi proving he was the equal of the champ, and finally Omega causing just enough of a distraction to set up that sweet Styles Clash finish.....great defense for Styles, and a great showing for Ibushi. When he gets his next shot at the belt at WresleKingdom after winning the G1, he walks out with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Here are some thoughts on the show. 1. Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Sho Tanaka & Tiger Mask vs. Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA), Captain New Japan, Yohei Komatsu & Yuji Nagata Nakanishi is pretty useless here. He tries, buy just doesn't have it. TM looked pretty bad as well. Kinda felt like a nothing match. 1 3/4* 2. BULLET CLUB (Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) & Cody Hall vs. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Tomoaki Honma Another group tag. I had been digging the Shibata/Honma stuff. I won';t get it here. I love Tonga mocking Honma early.We get a fun face shine. Tenzan gets cut off and goes FIP. This was pretty blah. The Bullet Club don't do that much interesting stuff. Kojima gets the hot tag and he's good in the role.Tama is athletic he really needs to take it to the next level. Kojima gets cut off . Honma gets in and is drilled by a Hall clothesline. We build to the finish. Honma wasn't put in the role to carry this and as a result we got a mediocre match. 2* 3. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title – The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) © vs. Roppongi Vice (Trent Baretta & Rocky Romero) This starts out pretty hot. The Bucks get frustrated and take a powder and start to leave. RPG follow suits to only eat Super Kicks. This ets up the heat beautifully. Baretta is FIP and he's real good in the role. They do some real fun near tag cut offs. Romero in with the hot tag. He does a very good job at it.Romero gets a chance as a FIP for abrief spell. We get a hot finish. This was good stuff. 3 1/2* 4. [/size]IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title – Kenny Omega © vs. Mascara Dorada Both guys need to have a good match here. Omega has been terrible so far as the "Cleaner" so lets see. Having the Jr's out there it kind of makes the match seem important. This was lightning fast right off the bat. So many hot moves it's too hard to list. The big spot was Omega cathcing Dorada on a dive and power bombing him on the apron. He follow up with some good back work including a drop kick to the back. I'm really loving Omega going after the back. Nasty Back breaker by Omega. Dorada's fire underneath is really good. This Omega I like. Dorada with a nice spinning DDT starts a comeback. That rana from inside out was sick by Dorada. I liked this a lot. Dorada provided the flash, and Omega provided the substance. It could have been cut by a minute or 2. Man if Omega can give me more of this that would be just too sweet. I want more matches between these 2. 4* 5. IWGP Tag Team Title – BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) © vs. Matt Taven & Michael Bennett Maria in full babyface mode is odd. Maria even gets the Okada zoom on her ass. She is looking pretty damn good.I love Maria as a character. Here she was used way too much. Match is feeling really flat here. This was bad. Anderson's dance was funny, but it was so dumb. This is straight out of the Godwins/Sunny stuff. This shit is tailor made for Taguchi or Captain New Japan. This did neither team any favors. 1 1/2* 6. CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito & Togi Makabe So far this has been pretty fun. Ishii really feels like he has some pep in his step. He even nails Makabe with his chain. They're really amping up to their singles match next month. Naito is FIP for his team. Makabe and Ishii take center stage again. Nakamura and Goto go at with a lot of back and forth. Everyone pairs off leaving Goto and Nakamura alone. Goto finishes him off. When wins and losses mean something it makes building to something easier.This was a perfect match to have on this card to build to the next big show. I thought the physicality was really great here. Everyone worked really hard. I hope a strong 6 man becomes the norm for NJPW super shows. 4* 7. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano Ok I want a Shibata/Sakuraba match stat. What they were doing with one another I dug. Yano antics paid off for a while. It feels like coyote and roadrunner with him and Tanahashi. Man the finishing sequence was a lot of fun. 2 1/2* 8. Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada This should be the match to put this feud to sleep. Fale with the glasses reminds me of SMW's Killer Kyle. Okada does come across as a big star. These guys are exchanging blows to start. I loved the shoulder block spot. I'm digging that these guys want to hurt one another and am digging the big impact stuff. I spoke a little soon and now Fale goes to a nerve hold. Okada sells it big. Okada's hope spots are solid. Back to the nerve hold. Another awesome comeback attempt by Okada. Okada feels like a southern style babyface here. Another hope spot by Okada cut off. I'm really loving the story of this match. Fale's spear was sick. Everytime Okada feels he's getting momentum Fale stops him in his tracks. This match far exceeded my expectations. This felt like a throwback match to me in the vein of Sting/Vader. 3 3/4* 9. IWGP Heavyweight Title – AJ Styles © vs. Kota Ibushi I'm a huge mark for the IWGP video package. I wish they showed it. These guys are on my top of the list for most outstanding in 2015. Early in the match Styles tries to prove he's the smarter wrestler. Some back and forth early on. Some rope running spots. Big drop kick by Ibushi. A couple of reversals on a Ibushi corner moonsault to the floor results with an inside out suplex by Styles on the floor. Styles is really punishing him in the ring.Ibushi's facials are real good. AJ working on top has been real good. His personality is really shining here. Ibushi is great at getting the crowd behind him. Totally loved AJ switching gears and going after the leg after realizing Ibushi really uses his legs for a lot of his offense. Loved Ibushi crumbling from the weight of his legs. Not a fan of Ibushi kind of shit canning the leg work that seconds earlier he sold so well. Now his after selling isn't bad. Aj's exploder counter was phenomenal. The mirror strike sequence was neat, even if the timing was a tad off. Styles sprinboard forearm was all levels of nasty. Aj going back to the leg with the Calf slicer was nice. Ibushi selling in it made it so much more important. Those knee by Ibushi were grade A nasty. The tease of a top rope Styles Clash was cool, but then gets topped by Ibushi's Super Frankensteiner. Sick lariat by Ibushi. AJ almost a Barry Windham glassy eyed level sell job. Styles sneaks in a Styles Clash.A good booking choice that gives Ibushi an excuse to the loss to the people, and srts up a match with Omega. Omega's mannerisms are great here. AJ is really coming across as a 1st rate wrestler. He's athletic and now seems to understand the importance of the little things. He feels like a hybrid of Bret,Flair, and Bockwinkle. 4* The Okada angle was great. Too bad it sets up a tag 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Oh....I forgot to mention the junior title match. I thought it was by far Omega's best showing as the cleaner. Hopefully his previous problems were just feeling out the character and Tanaguchi. I turned the show off before the trophy presentation after the main, but it sounds like this might be the show we look back to as the real beginning of Omega's run. Also seems like he might be moving out of the junior division, or that they plan to make the intereaction of the top juniors and heavyweights more fluid like they did with Devitt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strand Peanut Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 There are a lot of cicumstances surrounding that match, but the one part Joe had control over.. he failed at. Unless the goal was to be not big in japan. I don't know what this means. He gave a terrible performance. And carried himself like someone completely out of their depth. If that was part of the job I'd be surprised, and he should've walked away from it. If there's further discussion, we should take it to the Joe thread.. I'd think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Rewatched Ibushi vs. AJ. Match was very good. Ibushi is looking like a candidate for both Wrestler of the Year and Most Outstanding right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Just finished watching the entire show... overall, easy thumbs up. I have some huge disagreements with shoe over some matches but I'll save those for the Reaction Show that will hopefully be on P2B on Wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'm looking forward to arguing with Will. I have being right on my side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I rewatched the Nakamura 6 man and really short changed it. It was one heck of a match and I hope we get more of these types of matches going forward on the big shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I really enjoyed that six man. They set up Goto perfectly for a challenge of Nakamura but added in a level of hate and anger from Goto that has me really wanting to see that match, and Makabe/Ishii continuing to beat the holy hell out of each other has me anticipating that rematch. Naito looked good even if he is an afterthought for the moment, and even Yoshi-Hashi looked ok (except for "LOOSE EXPLOSION" on his pants....must lose something in translation). If the multi-man's on every big show were that hot, I'd be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 The 6 man was my match of the night running away. I'm looking forward to arguing with Will. I have being right on my side. Yep, you and Meltzer, the paragon of shitty match ratings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 The 6 man was my match of the night running away. I'm looking forward to arguing with Will. I have being right on my side. Yep, you and Meltzer, the paragon of shitty match ratings. I give this comment 4 stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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