[2015-02-14-NJPW-New Beginning in Sendai] Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma

[Loss]

I've seen the love this has gotten, and I watched it and thought it was good, but nowhere near at the level I have seen others describe it, but I couldn't really articulate why. I rewatched it and I think it comes down to the way everything was sold. I'm all for a good strike or chop exchange in a big match, as I think it's a great way to create drama. However, I didn't like the way they worked the chop exchange here, nor the forearms. The Flair-Steamboat route of selling each chop individually works much better, and considering how good the strikes looked, they could have done that for 20 minutes and it wouldn't get old at all. Tenryu and Hashimoto worked a few matches in that same vein in the late 90s but every single strike was sold. When they aren't sold individually, it feels like two guys just performing instead of fighting to win a match, no matter how stiff the shots are. The cumulative selling was absolutely there, but they didn't give all of the offense meaning in an individual way.

 

That said, I do think they did a lot right -- far more than I thought they did wrong. I loved the collar-and-elbow tie-up to start - not just they did it, but that they worked it with conviction. It's a staple of wrestling that I wish was part of the regular style again in most places and hasn't been for some time. It's a great way to set the tone for the entire match, and I thought they did a particularly good one here. I also really like Ishii as a throwback to some of the 80s All Japan and 90s WAR types like Ishikawa and Hara. He seems like he'd fit right in with that group, and I could see him having a hell of a match with Tenryu ten years ago even. I also really liked Honma's underdog character. He was really in tune with who he was and it was awesome to see the crowd invested in him as much as they were. There were some terrific nearfalls that play even better than they might normally because of his character, and I really got the sense that both guys had an understanding of who they are as performers that's so precise that it's almost rare.

 

There was a classic match dying to get out. I probably would call this my MOTY and give it ****1/2 or higher if the selling hadn't thrown me off. There was so much about this I really liked, but that was enough of a downer to take it to just slightly below great match status. ***3/4

[Johnny P]

I feel like for clarity I need to call you every time I watch a match I'm going to need to talk about in short order (modern MOTY discussions) or write about while attempting to be concise (80s projects). I have so many reviews I've never put out there publicly, or are public but I've never pointed most people to because they are lengthy, stream-of-consciousness epics where I often get a bit lost in minutia and can't always tie it together. We have similar analytic, nuanced thinking, but you present it better

 

I've avoided speaking about this match because I didn't want to get into arguments where I might "choke" on the spot (sometimes I'm ON in podcast appearances, sometimes I'm just not). You really crystallized and distilled this down to something I could relate to and get behind. I love the way these two embrace their characters, and use it as part of the match. Both, but especially Ishii, have the ability to sell not only beautifully and with small detail within the body of the match (and after, for bonus points and atmosphere), but as PART of their character. But after a million big moves and the exchange sections, I glaze over in some cases. So many people simplify and point to near falls, or say "go-go-go" style. Its more nuanced than that. Its not completely a promotion wide style as much as a perception. This, for me, was on the low end of anything I might find "offensive," but I do think it was the exchange sections, and not any big spots or complete no-sells, that bothered me about this and led to a glazed over feel to it. I wanted to like it more, but that cliche of stand and trade, when done to the level they did it, wasn't right for me. A better example of when I liked it and felt it was appropriate was the Goto vs Ishii match from late last year (2014). This might not even be factual with use of a stop watch, but it felt like the trading "tough guy" sections were shorter, and made more sense in the context of the characters and match (and I'll include expectations, which gets into a whole different column for me, as that's an artist's intent versus audience interpretation argument). Basically, I thought you could cut one or two of the exchange sections, and shorten them as a whole - add some physical consequences because you keep upping the length of section and power/stiffness of strike, and its a zero sum game at a point much like ECW's violence/stunts (something I know far too much about). This was never bad, and these guys are talented, and they were executing in a great way that felt visceral. Just give me a bit less. That 15th strike means absolutely nothing to me. I'm day dreaming, waiting for you to fall over, and I'm slightly annoyed, because I know that in the 8th minute this is a waste - none of this will matter in minute 14. You aren't going with a collapsed lung match story regarding chops (which would fascinate me if a guy could "breath-sell" along with clutching/trying to protect his chest & a great announcer could get it over in America). You aren't going to sell serious head or - more interesting - neck damage on those forearms. I need wobbling. I need someone who switches things up after a nasty strike, emoting & projecting, "Shit, that registered and hurt worse. I can't keep up this pace, he's stronger and/or more accurate. I've got to make a smart play here or I'll be concussed & lose in the next 10 seconds."

 

Just once I need it to be cerebral in addition to "tough." These guys show that in moments. They have the talent. I'm not going to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I think Loss is right - 3 3/4 stars is reasonable and fair assessment. My policy is always that I can respect & understand going half a star above or below, as 1/2* distances seem reasonable to me. However, this could have been Next Level stuff for me with a few small tweaks, and it starts and ends with these "strong man competition" segments within matches.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Man some serious in-depth analysis here. I enjoyed it a good deal more than you two (I get where the MOTYC talk is coming from), but yes for me the selling threw me for a loop. Selling in general has thrown me for a loop for the last 8 years or so. Honma just dies three minutes in the match. He does a deadfish drop. There is way too much overselling in some parts. Then in other parts there is no selling. It comes down to that it is like the entire wrestling world has forgotten what a register is. Flair and Steamboat would register the sting of the chop. That's it. No one was dying from a chop, but at the same time they let you know that chop hurt like son of a bitch. I give Ishii and Honma a lot of credit for offensive timing and layout. They really earned their bombs and told a great story of their offenses being pitted against each other. 

NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishi vs Tomoaki Honma - NJPW 2/14/15

Big, meaty Riki Choshu-style wrestling! War of attrition, lots of macho pride and big bombs! This has the interesting wrinkle of Honma, the super underdog that the crowd just loves. There were NO Ishii chants and that almost never happens with a Japanese crowd. Japanese wrestling crowds are like tennis crowd they usually root for whoever is losing to rally and therefore keep the match going. Even when Ishii was getting his ass beat, the crowd wanted Honma to win, which is crazy. 

I loved the escalation of this match and how the offensive strategies were intertwined. It felt like each man had to earn their offense and earn their big bombs. It took Honma four tries before he could hit his trademark falling headbutt. The first failures is what gave Ishii openings. It was a sudden Honma DDT (great sell job by Ishii, he is so great at selling the neck in the moment) that yielded him the opportunity to land that falling headbutt on Ishii's taped shoulder no less. Then things escalated. It took Ishii three tries to hit his trademark delayed superplex from the top rope and took Honma two tries to hit his top rope diving headbutt.  I like how they both had big bombs from the top rope and how that symmetry played out. Another great spot that really showcased that symmetry was an apron spot. Apron spots since All Japan are major match turning spots. Ishii went for his trademark delayed vertical similar to his superplex but this time from the apron. Honma fought and shoved Ishii into the metal turnbuckle face first. If this was Crockett, he was coming up bleeding. Honma hit an insane top rope headbutt to the floor on Ishii. I love how one man's trademark bomb turned into another's. From there it was off to the races. The Honma finish run was absolutely electric and heated. The crowd and myself was biting on every nearfall. The lunging headbutt to the back of the head was nasty and really cool. The Brainbuster popped me huge and then the Island Driver! I kinda knew after that sequence he was not winning, but in the moment the heat was unreal. Ishii sold it all very well to make you believe. Loved all the big, meaty Lariats down the stretch. I normally don't like the shoot headbutts, BUT you could feel the match slipping through Honma's fingers so he just throws his desperation headbutt that stun Ishii. He goes for a lunging one and MISSES! Ishii nails him with his own headbutt! Ishii knocks him out with a second one. The Brainbuster polishes Honma off. 

The end of the day Ishii beat Honma at his own game. He was more resilient than Honma outlasting him during that hot finish run. Then he beat him using headbutts, which is nasty. I didnt like the Kobashi/Sasaki tribute at the beginning and the strike exchanges at times were tiresome. The selling was weird. Sometimes, they were overselling, Honma did a deadfish flop about 3 minutes into the match. Then other times they werent selling shit. Register, dudes, register. Honestly for me offensive strategy, how they mesh, escalation and the psychology derived from there is more important to me and this really rocked for me. Based on what I wrote and rated the 2014 series, this should go down as one of the all-time great series. ****1/2

 

 

 

[Makai Club #1]

This was really good. Once the match peaked, they slowed down but then they peaked again. Impressie. The first half of the match is built around Honma and the question of “can he hit the kokeshi”. After many attempts, he did it and the crowd popped. There were a lot of elbow exchanges in this which can be a turn off but it was done in a competitive way that kept the match going instead of stopping it to a crawl. A cool match. Holds up well. ****