[2019-03-06-NJPW-47th Anniversary Show] Jay White vs Will Ospreay

[paul sosnowski]

This is a nontitle match between the IWGP Champ and the NEVER Openweight Champion.   Talk about it here

[nivvad]

Easily Jay's best match in New Japan. Hell I would even say it was better than their really great match in ROH too. In fairness I can't call this a carry job, but I still preferred Ospreay's performance much more. I mean Jay's offense isn't bad, he has the generic New Japan 30 minute match formula down to a T, except he does it in a very boring way. I know Jay has it in him to keep up with a marvel like Ospreay, he showed it by having great chemistry with Ospreay once again, but he chooses to wrestle the way he does because muh "heat". I get it, not a fan of it, but I get it. Despite my nitpicks, I'm still satisfied with how well the match came together at least. The best New Japan match since the Tokyo Dome I'd say, ****1/2.

[SmartMark15]

Agreed with nivvad's assessment of this as White's best NJPW match, possibly even his best match ever. Thought that they told a great, simple story with Jay going after the midsection. This was helped by the fact that Ospreay was able to take the bumps needed to make White's offense look murderous. I particularly loved the suplex toss into the ringpost and the multiple gutbuster variations that White pulled out. Thought that Ospreay sold pretty well despite still leaning on the Lex Luger grunting school of selling. But he did keep the midsection in mind, allowing it to slow him down at significant parts of the match. It also made for some of the best spots in the match such as White sending Ospreay crashing into the top rope. The finishing stretch was hot and exciting despite the crowd not quite deciphering the final counter of White, basically hitting a modified Blade Runner to catch Ospreay off the Oscutter. It took a little wind out of the sails of the finish but didn't hurt the match overall if you ask me. Awesome stuff here.

****1/2

[Boss Rock]

Really good match and I would agree it's probably Jay's best match yet. Ospreay was the star here but White more than delivered. While I still think he's better suited to be an upper-midcarder, I would disagree with the sentiment that Jay is a "bad" wrestler. He's consistently been delivering against good wrestlers for close to a year now. His work over Ospreay's ribs was consistent and logical and Ospreay sold really well (even if his grunting was annoying). Ospreay's offense was stellar as always without sacrificing any of the work Jay did on his ribs. I don't think the match needed to be as long as it did, but at the same time it didn't feel padded like a lot of other NJPW main events (it also helped that it didn't go 30+ minutes).

Great stuff. ****1/2.

[SmartMark15]

7 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

it didn't feel padded like a lot of other NJPW main events

I think this is the differentiator that separates really great matches of this style. There were consistent and exciting plot beats in this match. In the opening for example, White just disrespecting Ospreay with a slap or rolling out of the ring instantly were enough to create some good heat and tension to push the match forward.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

The first half or so was pretty damn great. Some good mind games w/ White being a dick & Ospreay showing off with his athleticism - then the ribs of Ospreay become the main target of Switchblade's onslaught, and it's absolutely FANTASTIC. He's really vicious working over Ospreay + has some awesome rib-targeting-cut-offs to Ospreay's comeback attempts. That's when I thought the match might be heading towards something really good, but as Ospreay gets more of his shit in, he drops the selling except for a few coughs here & there, and the match adopts the more typical NJPW main event formula w/ counters & finishing stretch-wrestling. It's not interesting, but the first half & White's work there was so good that the match couldn't be bad overall, even with a VERY uninteresting 2nd half. **3/4

[Makai Club #1]

Well what an amazing match this was. Heard conflicting stories on how good/bad the matches was, and I must say that it blew away the expectation I had for it. This wasn't the big move fest that usual NJ matches are, but it was filled with smart, great wrestling, along with fantastic selling from Ospreay (Yes. His selling made sense. He sold it with his facial expressions, he took time doing his offence due to his ribs. Sure he gradually stopped selling towards the end but that makes sense. Pain gradually wears off and it had been a while since Ospreay went on offence since then. People expect Ospreay to be on the floor writhing for 40 minutes when that's not realistic - which goes against the purpose of selling - but he sold it smartly, imo). Ospreay really shined in this match from all angles. So did White actually. I really wasn't impressed by White during the Tanahashi match at all. He was slow, plodding and ultimately uninteresting - big world of difference compared to here. His counter wrestling style was really compelling to watch. Any time Ospreay went for a big move, I was anticipating White to pull of some slick counter. Given that White and Ospreay are two of the most popularising wrestler in New Japan, stylistically, both worked extremely well together and had yet another awesome match despite being totally different from their ROH days. ****1/4