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Post by corndog on Mar 9, 2019 12:37:03 GMT -5
Amazingly I only got one wrong (Taichi Vs. Honma.) I have to say Chase, and Nakinishi really impressed the hell out of me to a surprising degree. Chase has improved greatly over the last couple of years, around this time last year I thought he might finally get something thrown his way for being a strong worker. But he seemed to get lost behind the Elite. Nakanishi went all out for this match, I was really hoping he would beat Yoshi-Hashi.
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Mar 9, 2019 12:52:15 GMT -5
Taichi Vs. Honma I actually enjoyed but it did alert me to one thing: Does Taichi only have a shit load of kicks in his arsenal?
Like Honma was great and actually made this match feel something special, his selling is spectacular and it even made Taichi look badass.
The downside of course was it was Taichi and his extremely limited moveset did hurt the match a bit in my mind, but Honma made it work.
He's still extremely good at doing what made him so popular in the G1 all those years ago, selling and making himself the ultimate underdog.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Mar 9, 2019 16:48:45 GMT -5
Ospreay is being billed as the Giant Killer
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Post by Yamashita Enforcement Division on Mar 9, 2019 16:54:24 GMT -5
Junior Sexy The Giant Killer William Ospreay.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Mar 9, 2019 17:42:01 GMT -5
I NEED and endless gif of Red Shows flailing his hands checking if Okada wants to tap.
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Post by HMARK Center on Mar 9, 2019 20:09:44 GMT -5
So, uh, yeah, Chase Owens busted the shit out of my bracket. Still, I think I get what they're going for: Juice is going to be spending a decent amount of time in ROH/stateside this year by the looks of things, and this is a nice chance to set up a possible US title match, well, within the US (though Chase could always get a shot in Japan since he's there enough). With the LA dojo growing and the slate of small shows they did for the New Beginning tour, my bet is that they want to transition to the US belt being defended more often in North America, still bringing it over to Japan for bigger cards.
Too bad the Ospreay/Fale fall was kinda botched, reminded me of the Kenny vs. KUSHIDA Jr. title match at WK a few years back. Still, really solid matches so far, it's nice to see some of the midcard level guys putting on strong showings. It goes to show, pro wrestling doesn't need a ton to feel important; even if it's not your absolute A-tier guys in the ring, so long as people feel like they're wrestling for a purpose it makes what they're doing feel important.
Most noteworthy thing to me so far...did YOSHI HASHI (kayfabe) intentionally grab at Red Shoes to escape the Hercules cutter against Nakanishi? Tacos, you're supposed to be sitting under Tana-senpai's learning tree now, it'd be quite unsporting of you!
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Mar 9, 2019 20:47:33 GMT -5
Just watched Liger and Ishimori. It is incredible that Liger can still go like that at year 30.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Mar 9, 2019 22:23:25 GMT -5
NJPW New Japan Cup Night Two March 9th, 2019 | Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi | Attendance: 4,122
The New Japan Cup continues. Like night one, there’s one match that stands out and some others that are much less interesting. Either way, this show doesn’t have anything that is on the level of Ishii/Nagata. I’m not expecting much here but we’ll see how it goes.
I’m pressed for time so this will be a shorter review than usual.
New Japan Cup First Round: Lance Archer vs. Toa Henare Archer surprised me with a strong run during the G1 24. Toa Henare is almost always a safe bet to put in effort. That was the case for Henare here. He brought fire and threw whatever he could at Archer. The big man wasn’t completely in the mood to sell a ton, so he didn’t make Henare look all that great. Still, I appreciated the effort from Henare. He lost to the Blackout in 11:11. One guy tried and the other guy didn’t. It made for an average match at best. [**]
New Japan Cup First Round: HIKULEO vs. Mikey Nicholls Wy do they keep booking HIKULEO? He’s not good and his brothers aren’t either. Mikey Nicholls is the former Nick Miller of The Mighty Don’t Kneel or TM61 fame. This was probably the least interesting matchup on paper. I will admit that HIKULEO seems to have improved at least a little bit. Nicholls played the babyface because HIKULEO had Jado helping him and the clear size advantage. Jado didn’t help things as his outside interference dragged this down. Nicholls impressed with some power offense on his larger opponent before winning with the poorly named Mikey Bomb in 8:55. A rough match due to the inexperience of HIKULEO and the Jado nonsense. [*½]
New Japan Cup First Round: Bad Luck Fale vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay Fale is at his best working great wrestlers. Ospreay is at his best against guys better than him. Those things didn’t add up for a good match on paper. Fale has seemingly gotten lazier over time and Ospreay wasn’t up to the task of carrying him. They played up the big man vs. little man dynamic, which they always do. It also featured Jado interference because this Bullet Club BS apparently wasn’t overdone back in 2015 and especially during the G1 last year. Anyway, Ospreay overcame it all and won with a rana in 11:30. It had some good ideas but got bogged down by one guy being lazy, the other kind of just being there, and interference. [*¾]
New Japan Cup First Round: Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin People fawned over their G1 Climax 27 match and I never got it. It was good, but just basic Okada formula. Their single camera G1 25 match worked better. Unfortunately, this was more of the that Okada formula. Let me get this out of the way. It’s not a bad one, just one that I’ve grown tired of. You never felt like Okada was in danger of losing, so it took out a lot of the drama from this one. Elgin did his power moves for some near falls. Meanwhile, this seemed like Okada just going through the motions and possibly saving his best stuff for later in what I’m sure will be a lengthy tourney run. He won with the Rainmaker in 24:06. A fine match, but nothing worth checking out. [***]
Overall: 3/10. Yea, you can skip this one. The first match is okay at best, the next two are bad, and the main event is okay but not something you need to see.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2019 3:09:37 GMT -5
Watching live now and DBSJ looks amazing at the moment. His look is the best it’s ever been and in ring he has a presence that’s always been lacking. I’ve got Yano going over him in my bracket, but I wouldn’t mind Smith getting a longer run in the tourney.
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Post by AwamoriRock on Mar 10, 2019 3:29:04 GMT -5
Win the cup Tenzan
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2019 3:45:29 GMT -5
I really like that this tourney is breaking down the barriers between Heavyweight and junior, at least somewhat. Something I’d like to see more consistently. I mean Ospreay seems certain for the g1, but I really want Shingo in there as well.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2019 3:52:01 GMT -5
Word is that Umino’s spot was originally offered to Yoshida, but he’s decided to stay loyal to K-Dojo and is done with New Japan for now at least. Proper shame about Yoshida as he looked great, but Uminos grown so much. Really looking forward to this.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2019 4:05:27 GMT -5
That was FANTASTIC! Umino is gonna be a freakin star
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2019 5:01:03 GMT -5
4-0 again. Best night of the tournament so far, but I imagine most thought that when the cards were announced. 3 fantastic matches.
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Post by BRAINFADE on Mar 10, 2019 5:15:32 GMT -5
4-0 again. Best night of the tournament so far, but I imagine most thought that when the cards were announced. 3 fantastic matches. Yeah that main event ruled. If my prediction of Naito winning the G1 this year is true, then I can see Ibushi being the one to take the IC title off him.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Mar 10, 2019 5:40:47 GMT -5
Star marking performance from Umino
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 10, 2019 6:39:03 GMT -5
I really like that this tourney is breaking down the barriers between Heavyweight and junior, at least somewhat. Something I’d like to see more consistently. I mean Ospreay seems certain for the g1, but I really want Shingo in there as well. I thought Ospreay was pretty much a heavy now, though I guess the NEVER is openweight, right?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2019 8:08:12 GMT -5
I really like that this tourney is breaking down the barriers between Heavyweight and junior, at least somewhat. Something I’d like to see more consistently. I mean Ospreay seems certain for the g1, but I really want Shingo in there as well. I thought Ospreay was pretty much a heavy now, though I guess the NEVER is openweight, right? He’s still seems to be seen as junior, but he’s in the process of becoming a heavyweight. But Taguchi getting a win over Tenzan is hopefully a sign that occasionally those barriers can come down, or at least be loosened.
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Post by chrom on Mar 10, 2019 8:50:12 GMT -5
Umino is a future champion no doubt
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Mar 10, 2019 12:55:42 GMT -5
Overall solid night, but the main event annoyed the hell out of me: Why the hell is an apron piledriver just a throw away move in a match where a lot of the story was predicated on head and neck work? 30 seconds later he gets dropped on his head again and is back up and fighting like nothing happened and even takes control of the match back.
This is my biggest gripe with Naito and Ibushi's matches with each other they just seem to be doing moves by the end of them most of the time. This was the only time though that it's completely taken me out of the match. I should have gone nuts for the Tiger Driver 91 but they just used a similar spot in a throwaway position so why did that one matter?
On the bright side 1: this means Sabre Vs. Ibushi 4.
And 2: Umino's match with Tanahashi was awesome.
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