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BOTSJ Finals


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Owens vs Tiger Mask

 

I thought Tiger Mask was the wrestler who did the least in the tourney.Owens should get away from the Tyson Kidd look since Tyson smokes him as a wrestler. Tiger Mask going after the leg was solid stuff. Overall another match that was just there. 2*

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Cavenario vs Dorada

 

I'm hoping for a potential show stealer here. Already loving the comedy with the ref. Both guys worked hard all tourney. These guys are working their asses off here. they're cutting a hot pace. Dorada runs off 2 amazing spots including an ACH dive. They're busting out highspots, but they're selling . Man Dorada blows that spot at the finish and takes the sails out of a killer match. 3 1/4*

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Fish vs Baretta

 

Baretta's opening sequence was fun. Fish's heat has a snugness to it. It's very crisp. Loving fish attacking the leg. Baretta's selling of the double stomp. Great counter of the heel hook by Baretta. A really great match. 3 1/2*

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I haven't seen enough of Trent in solo action, and Fish is always worth scoping out for me - even if he doesn't *always* deliver. Very inconsistent performer in my view, but when he's on - he's fairly freaking terrific. So yeah. I'll track down the Trent/Fish bout, the Dorada match for sure, and the finals of course.

 

Glad they went with Kyle/Kushida, since that's the showdown I was banking on since the field was first announced. And now we can all gleefully await the crowning of Kushida over Omega soon to come. :D

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Main event is getting MOTY talk, which I think is inevitable for any long match where they do a lot of moves at this point. I thought it was very good, like **** level, but felt over-long, unfocused, and had some really embarrassingly sloppy moments. It seemed like KUSHIDA said to himself, "I like 90's juniors, King's Road and US indies so I'm going to have a match that's all of the above!" They peaked with the apron brainbuster but kept going for another 5+ minutes for some reason. That said, much like Owens/Cena, having the best possible match wasn't as important as getting KUSHIDA over as a star and I think they accomplished that in a way maybe a better match couldn't.

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Nick Jackson vs Rocky Romero

 

Some shenanigans to start. Nick heeling it up. Romero with a rana to start a comeback that is shut down momentarily with a superkick. Rocky with a top rope Fujiwara. Some back and forth. Jackson takes control with a swanton. Back and forth again. Romereo's Sliced Bread #2 on the floor was cool. This just isn't resonating. Both guys are being a little too cute for my taste. Lack of structure hurt it in my eyes. Way too many teases of control segments that never happened. 2*

 

YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI & DAVID FINLAY VS. SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIROYOSHI TENZAN & TOMOAKI HONMA

 

I haven't missed Nakanishi at all. Though Honma can work the headbutt spot with a broom. They isolate Finlay and work him over. Now the other side isolate Tenzan and work over his knee. A Nagata and Tenzan fight for a bit. Kojima is in and lights Nagata up. Kojima is a good hot tag here. Nagata with an Exploder into the dead man's arm bar. It's broken up. Honma is in control for a sec. Kind of what you expect. Finlay showed he belonged here. 2 1/2

 

KAZUCHKA OKADA & GEDO VS. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CODY HALL

 

The Bullet Club is working over Gedo. Hall working good big man spots. Hall's punch looked nasty. This is a southern tag with a short shine, heat segment on Gedo, comeback, cut off, small heat segment on Okada, comeback again. Finish. Really basic stuff.Neither of the Bullet Club members are actively good right now so the heat segments were pretty pedestrian. 2*

 

SHINSUKE NAKAMURA & TOMOHIRO ISHII & TORU YANO & KAZUSHI SAKURABA & YOSHI-HASHI VS. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TOGI MAKABE & HIROOKI GOTO & KATSUYORI SHIBATA & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN

 

 

Yano being a total pussy to start. The 10 man tag is such a huge NJPW trope. Nice opening exchange on who the bid dog is between Ishii and Makabe. Same pair offs as usual. It breaks down in Tulsa. Yano takes off the padding. This match is as predictable as a Lethal heat segment. We get a small Tanahashi as FIP segment. The beginning is typical, but then they kick it up a notch. Goto is running wild. The Nakamura/Goto sequence is pretty great. I will say though they've done a good job keeping the mediocre workers activity to a minimum. The pairing off segments have some meat to them. Fuck they all feed to Captain NJ like he's Dusty Rhodes. I loved this match and it built and built into this great dramatic match . How cool would it be to introduce a new new baby face under the Captain NJ mask scoring a pinfall in something like this .Everyone had their working shoes on. Anyways 4*

 

Kushida vs O'Reilly

 

O'Reilly really has an opportunity to show a huge audience what a great worker he is. Kushida reminds me a lot of Rey Jr. I think besides Nakamura, Kushida is a guy who could get over huge in the States. We're mat wrestling to start. The struggle here is well done. O'Reilly going after the arm, and he's bringing new stuff to the dance here. O'Reilly is really torturing him on the mat. Kushida is doing his part selling underneath. Kushida after the arm. Kushida mounts a comeback. Going after Kyle's arm, reversal. Front guillotine by Kyle. Kushida reverses. Kyle with a flying arm breaker from the top. Kushida with a German than a Dragon Suplex. Kushida again ripping at the arm. Kyle counters with a sleeper. Flip dive by Kushida. Holy Moly Kushida does a moonsault into a triangle. Everything goes back to the arm. Kyle with a belly to back suplex from the top. A strike exchange that leads to some suplex throw by Kyle. The drama here is off the charts. Both wrestlers are just bringing it. Look at these guys selling the arms. Kushida with a vertical suplex on the apron. Fish has been a great 2nd. What a match. My complaint is they could have wrapped it up between 3-5 earlier. 4 1/4*

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I felt Reilly/KUSHIDA went about 20 minutes too long. They had some good ideas, but tried too hard to stretch the match and put in a bunch of goofy/throwaway moments. Stopped caring really. The end wound up feeling random. Maybe I'll like it more on rewatch.

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