NJPW 2016

[shoe]

Ishii was excellent in the Korakuen match against Roddy.

I liked the match in the 3 1/2* range, I enjoyed his match with Evil. Though the matches with Shibata have been heralded as classics and I just don't see it. They seem to be trying to do this quasi it's fake, but we are real. Hansen , even Hero now does it better. Use big strikes and sell.

[Quentin Skinner]

I thought pretty much everything on the show underdelivered and Ishii/Naito was ridiculously bloated even without taking into account that it's the world champion taking 30 minutes to beat a midcarder.

 

A huge step down from Invasion Attack (which may be my Show of the Year) for me, the NJPW faithful seemed to love the show though.

I get this point of view, but considering how Naito won the title and got where he is, it doesn't bother me at all. Ishii's persona is being one of the toughest, most stubborn motherfuckers in the company so even if he is a "midcarder", I don't think it defies logic.

[WingedEagle]

I'm through Nagata/Shibata on Dontaku and will watch the rest tonight. Thus far it feels very similar to Invasion Attack in that there was really nothing that stood out on the undercard for better or worse.

 

The 10 man opener was geared towards giving Ospreay a spotlight at the end which makes all the sense in the world. Junior tag titles was yet another change and in no way bad, but I expected the Ricochet/Sydal team to have an Ospreay like impact and at least light up buildings with spotfests if not have solid matches. Thus far they've been rather muted and are far from the babyface Young Bucks that seemed intended.

 

Speaking of which, the Bucks/Omega vs. Tanahashi & co. six-man was a better iteration than last month with Elgin really coming off as a superpower and few impressive spots as they build toward the IC Title rematch. I'm optimistic about the ladder match as they never use any kind of gimmick so presumably this will be well received. They also won't have to resort to non-stop spots with the ladder if they don't want to and can instead incorporate it sparingly throughout the match. I thought the Februray title change was great and expecting another big match from them. Elgin is also super over and they absolutely have to build towards him turning on Tanahashi. I'd go as far as to say that should be the 2nd or 3rd match from the top at Wrestle Kingdom, though it may benefit from Tanahashi being IC Champ by that time.

 

Shibata/Nagata was shockingly quick and clean. Seemed like a really fun moment for the old-timer but I'm curious about the direction with that title. The match itself was okay with a reasonably heated finishing stretch, but didn't approach what you might see from them in the G1 and yet another match that was just okay.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the show.

[WingedEagle]

Jushin Liger vs. Kushida

 

I absolutely loved this. The 2016, 74 year old Liger can still bring the Thunder. He wrecked Kushida's knee with dropkicks before dropping it on the railing and posting it. If you need Kushida to sell it every step of the way you'll be disappointed, but I thought it was very solid and was even ripping at Liger's gear while trapped in a hold that I thought was a great touch. What's more, I loved that there were clear strategies on both sides here. Kushida was going after the arm from the early stages to set up the Hoverboard Lock, while Liger worked the leg like a killer and pulled out all of his traditional big spots. They did such a great job building Liger's challenge until absolutely faking out the crowd on a near fall. A title change here probably doesn't make any sense at all, and I don't know how often Liger can pull off this kind of performance (or how many other opponents could get this out of him) but they had you dying for another Liger title win. Very interested to see if we get Kushida in the G-1 this year, but think he'll be mixed in at that level eventually.

 

An easy **** and I could probably talk myself higher.

[InYourCase]

I don't even think the criticism of calling Ishii and undercarder is accurate anymore. He's held a title for a majority of the last three years. He's seen as a legit threat to the roster. A low tier main eventer at times, at the very worst a strong upper midcarder.

 

Gave the main event 4*, Nagata/Shibata ***3/4. Have to go back and watch Liger/KUSHIDA soon.

[GOTNW]

Ishii was a midcarder holding a midcard belt. You could maybe make a case for Makabe being a "low tier main eventer" (his won-loss record against Ishii is also very telling, it's something like 7-1). Ishii? No way.

[InYourCase]

Ishii was a midcarder holding a midcard belt. You could maybe make a case for Makabe being a "low tier main eventer" (his won-loss record against Ishii is also very telling, it's something like 7-1). Ishii? No way.

Ishii's headlined smaller shows. He's positioned as a threat to anyone he wrestles. I just don't have an issue with the time he got vs. Naito. I thought it made sense.

[shoe]

I thought Ishii's performance in the main event was his best performance this year. We really got a chance to look at one of his skills that makes him special and it's his selling. If Naito could have sold the leg more consciently I could see the match being a MOTYC. With that said even with Naito's new gimmick he still has a lot of the same flaws as a wrestler he had before the gimmick.

 

 

Now the Kushida/Liger match is what I like about wrestling.

 

Overall, I thought they put on a good show.