So what am I missing about Okada V Omega?

[111111]

I mean it was a good match, there were really crisp moves and sequences and it flew by despite being nearly an hour long.

But I don't understand why it's getting so much hype, I don't really follow NJPW so is it that there's a story behind the match that I'm missing or something? That would make the most sense if there's a context I'm missing, but if that's the case then the announcers didn't really do a good job of explaining what was going on.

Ricochet V Will Osprey was miles more entertaining to me.

[Deleted]

You probably aren't missing anything too big, you're just not always going to like something as much as everyone else. I didn't care all that much about that Ricochet/Osprey match, it happens.

[froggyfrog]

its ok to have your own opinion. you dont need to justify it or have anyone who liked the match convince you that you should like it

[________ has left the building]

We aren't a hivemind so different opinions about Okada vs Omega doesn't mean you're less than a wrestling fan than others. I rather someone actually speak their true feelings than lying to themselves so they can be part of the cool kids.

[N E O G E O B O Y S]

Somehow the prematch made the match for me. Since Okada vs Tanahashi part 123456 was the end of an era, this match was the beggining of NJPW as a global entity, the question was who will lead this new era, if the local hero okada, or the gaijin more suited for global takeover omega.

As for the match itself, for me was very well paced, people say that it started slow yet I feel that it had a great flow to the bigger spots, which felt natural, also the fact that they could keep such athleticism for 50 minutes without noticeable slowdowns made me feel attached to the match even if I already knew the result. Also the story of the One Winged Angel being the dangerous move that should be avoided at all cost was greatly told, even though at times felt stupid how all the setups that normally work during the rest of year somehow doesn't work by the BURNING TOKYO DOME FIGHTING SPIRIT. And the post match speech sold me okada as the leader of the company, while the dome was super excited about the match. this was okada fiest match, way better than the tanahashi ones.

That being said, I feel that is not the best match ever or anything like that, it still has stupid spots that has no business in this era, and the no selling really gets on my nerves.

It deserves the 5 stars for me, but isn't the next coming of god or a business changer on anyway, people always say that it will be impossible to top the ME on each Wrestle Kingdom and the hyperbole reachs all time highs, by july people forget about the matches like all those tana vs okada matches. still, if you don't see nothing in the match is fine, for me rock vs hogan was a 5 star match because it resonated with me, wrestling is a medium were you can connect with the match if you can reflect your life and opinions of it, for me is not always about how crisps the moves where ot how risky abd breath taking they are.

[BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps]

It's easily an instant classic and I loved it, but there's a list of ***** matches I personally enjoyed more.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Nothing. To me the match is strong 4 out of 5. You can have your own opinion

[KobashiChop]

It's an amazing match but when I'm going in to watching something, "the best pro wrestling match ever" is a hard bill to live up to.

[chazraps]

There's the entire story leading up to it, which contains everything professional wrestling can and should be.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Jan 8, 2017 9:58:02 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

its ok to have your own opinion. you dont need to justify it or have anyone who liked the match convince you that you should like it

Real shit. I swear this needs to be stamped on some folks' forehead for them to get it.

[I'm Team Bayley and Indi]

6* rating, greatest match ever etc...

It's really a lot to live up to and it was impossible for me to go into the match with a completely open mind. But I did enjoy it, I was into it, but yeah for for many people watching it because of it's reputation it's just not going to live up to it for them.

[ADudeThatIsAwesome]

It was a typical long, boring, over hyped NJPw match. If it happened in WWE it'd be boring. But it happened in Japan, so it's amazing.

[Fundertaker]

Jan 8, 2017 18:19:31 GMT -5 ADudeThatIsAwesome said:

It was a typical long, boring, over hyped NJPw match. If it happened in WWE it'd be boring. But it happened in Japan, so it's amazing.

And this is the other end of the spectrum.

[ADudeThatIsAwesome]

Jan 8, 2017 18:23:33 GMT -5 Fundertaker said:

Jan 8, 2017 18:19:31 GMT -5 ADudeThatIsAwesome said:

It was a typical long, boring, over hyped NJPw match. If it happened in WWE it'd be boring. But it happened in Japan, so it's amazing.

And this is the other end of the spectrum.

I don't think I'm the end of any spectrum. I just have never gotten the whole "Japanese is better" mentality that seems to peremeate the IWC. Now, admitedly, it's not a hive mind, but there does seem to be a majority.

Metlzer has called this the "greatest match of all time" but IMO it's just a long, over chereographed borefest.

[lionheart21]

To me, its a strong contender for Match of the Year. Taste is subjective, though, so if it wasn't really all that much of a standout match to you, nobody should hold that against you. I know I don't.

[ADudeThatIsAwesome]

I wanna clarify, I don't even think it's a bad match. It was good. Just, overrated.

[chazraps]

Something to keep in mind:

About once a year on here we have a thread about Bret vs. Piper at Wrestlemania 8. Same sort of dynamic between "one of the greatest" vs "good not special and I don't get the hype"/"overrated."

The viewers who fall into the latter camp usually hadn't seen the pre-match Piper-Bret promo, which is just as important to the match's reputation as anything that happened between the ropes.

New Japan slowly built to this match for more than a year. It's the cross-section of careers for a first time one-on-one match-up. It's rare the stars align for such a massive match as it is.

Now keep in mind you have all that tremendous build, and then two of the greatest workers in the world for the match itself.

It's a once-in-a-generation happening. That's why it's getting such acclaim.

[ADudeThatIsAwesome]

Jan 8, 2017 19:07:36 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Something to keep in mind:

About once a year on here we have a thread about Bret vs. Piper at Wrestlemania 8. Same sort of dynamic between "one of the greatest" vs "good not special and I don't get the hype"/"overrated."

The viewers who fall into the latter camp usually hadn't seen the pre-match Piper-Bret promo, which is just as important to the match's reputation as anything that happened between the ropes.

New Japan slowly built to this match for more than a year. It's the cross-section of careers for a first time one-on-one match-up. It's rare the stars align for such a massive match as it is.

Now keep in mind you have all that tremendous build, and then two of the greatest workers in the world for the match itself.

It's a once-in-a-generation happening. That's why it's getting such acclaim.

As a counter point I'd say that Zayn/Nakamura, with no storyline going in, was a better match than this one.

[HMARK Center]

There was definitely a story leading into it, albeit one that wasn't told super overtly the way we usually anticipate stories being told in the States.

I wrote this in the WWE section, so hopefully this helps explain the view some have of it:

If the lesson they took from that match is "we need a work-rate clinic to close out Mania!", then they only got half the message. There were numerous ingredients that went into Okada vs. Omega being so effective as a main event match; the in-ring work was key, absolutely, but it certainly wasn't the only one.

For starters, Okada and Omega, the leaders of two of the companies' biggest stables, had been kept apart outside of a few tag or 6-man matches throughout 2016, as the Tokyo Dome match was their first straight up singles match. Even more than that, though, there was a great story built in to what was happening: Okada finally 100% solidified himself as NJPW's ace at least year's Dome show by finally vanquishing Tanahashi on the company's biggest stage, but in the year since NJPW has made waves about expanding its global presence, and nobody in the company was as uniquely positioned to be the "world ace" of NJPW than Kenny Omega, a bilingual gaijin with talent out his eyeballs who had one of the best years in all of wrestling in 2016 as he built himself up into a main event player, all because he pounced on that top spot like a starving man on a baloney sandwich once AJ and Nakamura left. While their actual interactions were pretty plain (as are most regular interactions/promos in NJPW), the subtext was really powerful: is it now Kenny's time to ascend to the throne, the man who can speak to both English and Japanese crowds and could carry the company on his back that way (Kenny even lampshade hangs this during his entrance video on the 1/4 show)? Or is Okada still the top dog, the true face of NJPW's renaissance movement, and if he truly is can he reach a level he's never had to push himself to before in order to maintain the spot he's been at war to maintain for nearly five years now? The match thrives in large part because both men feel like absolute mega stars, and because the outcome feels vitally important to the future of the company and the image it will present to the rest of the world, especially as it embarks on its first ever self-promoted US shows in the summer.

Maybe WWE can tell a story like that, but I simply have my doubts. WWE has a hell of a time getting of its own way to make a match feel immensely important, avoiding the "wink and nod" feeling or the temptation to explain something instead of just letting it happen (e.g. "this match is epic because Vince told Michael Cole to say it is" vs. "this match is epic and Michael Cole can barely articulate how impressed he is"). There's just such enormous differences in the way that WWE presents its product vis a vis the way NJPW does that I don't think WWE could truly replicate what Okada/Omega sought to and did achieve in its booking, planning, and execution. Kenny Omega didn't come off as a destroyer soon-to-be champion because he "always wanted to be a NJPW superstar" or some such nonsense, he came off that way because he carried himself as if to say "I'm Kenny-Goddamned-Omega, Destroyer of Worlds, and you will not ignore me." Okada comes off as a mega champion because he survived an unspeakable onslaught, but he carries with him the concern that he may, in some small way, have simply been lucky enough to avoid the One Winged Angel finisher, and had to experience something he's almost never dealt with, having his patented Rainmaker kicked out of (only Naito has done that recently, now Omega joins that rank).

Again...is WWE capable of bursting through its own sort of sanitary, corporate bubble to tell a story like that?

That said, if they want to try it they do have a nice slate of guys to choose from: AJ, Joe, Nakamura, maybe Balor, Cesaro, could throw Owens or Zayn in there in the right circumstance, as well. It's just that the question isn't only "can these guys tear it up in the ring?", it's also "can WWE let these guys do most of the legwork on their own to craft a story that carries this over the top and gives it added purpose and meaning?" We know full well that most of these guys are capable of doing the latter, but will WWE allow that?

[AwamoriRock]

Jan 8, 2017 18:50:48 GMT -5 ADudeThatIsAwesome said:

Jan 8, 2017 18:23:33 GMT -5 Fundertaker said:

And this is the other end of the spectrum.

I don't think I'm the end of any spectrum. I just have never gotten the whole "Japanese is better" mentality that seems to peremeate the IWC. Now, admitedly, it's not a hive mind, but there does seem to be a majority.

Metlzer has called this the "greatest match of all time" but IMO it's just a long, over chereographed borefest.

That kinda assumes that people like it or other matches skier because its a Japanese, which is kinda unfair. I'm not one of the guys gushing over it (I thought the semi-main nobody is talking about was better), but I don't see it being over choreographed at all.