[2016-08-14-NJPW] Kenny Omega vs Hirooki Goto

[G. Badger]

I watched this match twice since I saw that people gave it ****3/4.

 

Here are my thoughts from both viewings:

 

Omega is charismatic and his mannerisms and expressions are indicative of a character he's playing rather than "himself." He engages the crowd very well with these attributes which have a tinge of dark humor. It's fun to watch.

 

I am a fan of Goto especially in his IC fights with Nakamura. I thought this would be similar since Omega is playing something like Nakamura's but, Goto came across as bland. He was not as stiff and or intense as I would have liked.

 

They could have traded out Goto for any big/strong wrestler as I felt this was all Kenny. Watching this made the Naito match all that more worth watching again.

 

All in all this was a great match with the powerbomb fake out and the tributes to Ibushi and past Bullet Clubbers. I was hoping that they would play more off of Omega's knee from the Naito match from the previous night...that would have been awesome and a recipe for a classic but, i just had higher expectations than what this turned out to be. Great match nonetheless

[Superstar Sleeze]

Kenny Omega vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW G1 Climax Finals 8/14/16

They had me cheering hard for the One Winged Angel to end this borefest so they did get me to pop for the finish. 
 

I always thought the Naito match was the finals. Since I watched the Naito match I thought maybe I was too harsh on Omega but this match brought him back down to Earth. It is not necessarily his fault Goto is a poor man’s Kensuke Sasaki or Hashimoto. They try to present him as an asskicked but very rarely does he reach elite levels. So I knew Omega’s had his work cut out for him. Goto is very bland both selling the neck and his offense. At the same time, it is not like Omega put on this other worldly performance. His knee selling was all over the place. His control segment on the neck was uninspired. The Rick Rude hip swivel on the Rude Awakening was an unexpected surprise. I can usually pinpoint oh this why everyone else likes this match but this ain’t working for me brutha but that doesn’t really exist in this match. Theres actually not a lot of high flying. Theres plenty of high spots it is 2016 but it is not really a spot fest either. I am kinda surprised this is as hyped as it is as because the finish run is pretty tame. Goto’s offense doesnt really have the juice for those ultra hot finish runs. So Omega has to manufacture it by scaling the ropes and falling back to escape a sleeper. That raised the stakes. It is the usual Omega with the Snap Dragons and the V-Trigger threw in a Styles Clash before the One Winged Angel. I mean usually you can at least point to the finish run as that is exciting but it was just alright 

This far inferior to the Naito which is shockingly great. In a large part Naito match is expertly laid out. Every transition is very well-thought and fits the match. They take what the match gives them and there’s a constant sense of progression. This match the transitions were not emphatic and just felt like ok it is my turn. There was no fist pumping for a comeback. There was no oh that’s how he gets out of this hole. There was a lot of stuff but none of it emotionally moving. It was not very interesting. 
 

I will say unlike many matches from This era there was no point where I said “Fuck this, this is dumb”. I do think it was a good match mostly on Omega’s part I think he had enough good cocky heel moments and overcoming the knee to make this good. This felt like sub par All Japan for the most part. The Naito match is the one to watch. I would skip this as it is not very essential ***