[2019-02-11-NJPW-New Beginning in Osaka] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White

[paul sosnowski]

Tanahashi defends the IWGP World Heavyweight title.   Talk about it here

[SmartMark15]

I really turned around on Jay White at the tail end of 2018 from his US Title loss to Juice all the way into his G1 run. This was not his best work and not even his best match with Tanahashi. There was no urgency, probably because Tanahashi was focused on selling the knee for much of the early going and also because the crowd didn't buy into White's offense quite yet. At the same time, that's because White didn't have the same snap and violence behind his offense today that made him really pop back in August last year. I had hoped that some of the more old school heel tactics actually worked but I guess that would get in the way of trying to put over Jay White as a legitimate threat. All in all, this felt very much like the Rainmaker Shock match in that it's clearly not as good as it might have the potential to be down the line. Not saying that White will be on the level of Okada but I do think there's possibilities for him especially as he continues to cement his spot at the top. Overall though, this was a disappointment. You could tell the crowd only woke up for a couple of spots down the stretch and of course for the finish. I doubt Jay's reign lasts long but I do hope he gets the chance to hone his work in the upper slots of the card because there's definitely room to grow especially if his progress in 2018 is any indication.

***1/2

[ShittyLittleBoots]

I thought that Switchblade looked like a star in this. Great swagger & charisma shown throughout. Loved his trashtalk while he went to town on Tana's knee. His work over that knee was really good, and while I wouldn't say that Tana's selling was good, it wasn't offensive. He still did his High Fly Flows without showing the damage done to the knee in his movements, but those were just a couple of brief moments, so it didn't bother me too much. He was very good w/ the knee work of his own, too. Then the whole sequence with White avoiding the Slingblade was real neat; White came off as a very smart, cocky prick w/ his great expressions, while Tana was awesome being frustrated & angry as hell about him not getting the moves in. Badass finish in the catching Bladerunner & of course I gotta mention Gedo's hilarious bumping for Tana during his bits. Overall a very good match & better than I expected, honestly. ***1/2

[nivvad]

I feel like I should hate this match more than I should. It wasn't an "epic" IWGP title match that we have come to expect every time, and I don't know why that bothers me. It was a good little match too. Jay and Tana did some spotty leg work, Jay hit a bunch of movez, and they got their cute "shock" at the end there too. All in all a good match, but very disappointing to what I've come to expect from New Japan. If this is the direction they're going in with this "new era", well, I'll just say I need to start lowering my expectations, ***3/4.

[Tetsujin]

This was Tana's formula applied in autopilot mode. If this was the match to put White over, why was It worked so... lazily? It felt like Tanahashi didn't have interest in making White look like the new big thing, which is strange coming from someone as professional as him. Jay definitely should have been the star of the match and instead he was the other guy Tana was working with. Also, we all already know White doesn't need more than 20 minutes or so, please New Japan do not make the same mistakes of his USA Title run. Very bad approach that condemned the whole match.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

While not a bad match this majorly lacked energy of being an epic and they fell short on trying to capture the magic of the shock Okada win in 2012. Jay White has improved greatly and carried himself as a star in this one. Also appreciate them doing everything they possibly can making White legit with little shenanigans on his behalf and Gedo.