Convoy
El Dandy
Rusev admits to being a sex addict to large applause.
Posts: 7,532
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Post by Convoy on Aug 12, 2019 17:13:27 GMT -5
I've been gone for a few days on a vacation with friends, so today was a marathon of all three Budokan days. In short, WOW. All three days delivered and then some.
Not going back through the last 10+ pages to see what everyone thought, but the highlights for me were Ospreay/Tana, White beating Naito (which surprised me, despite Ibushi/White being my finals prediction the whole time) and SHIBATA ATTACKING BULLET CLUB KENTA. It's times like these I'm glad we have a home instead of an apartment. A neighbor might've called the police due to all my reactions.
Thank you, New Japan. What a wild tournament that was.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
HaHa U FaLL 4 LaVa TriK
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 12, 2019 17:31:04 GMT -5
The Kevstaaa IDK. I remember people being pretty pissy about Naito losing at WK to Okada but it wasn't as harsh as it is now. Naito was still red hot but two years later and he has not reached that same fever pitch high and people are concerned. He spent a year doing nothing and wasting time with Jericho and this year his matches with Ibushi has been fun but it doesn't feel like he has a bigger plan in mind. People see the writing on the wall and as I said before this felt like a year where Naito had to do it or you risk it being too late if you do it later If I'm being honest, I can admit that the sands in Naito's hourglass ran out the second that Ibushi put pen to paper on a full-time contract.
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Post by Slanted and Enchanted on Aug 12, 2019 17:35:08 GMT -5
I'll post more thought later. But man...NJPW 2019 is wrecking the shit out of NJPW 2018. Never thought I'd say that back in January when so many key guys left to start a new promotion.
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Dub H
Crow T. Robot
Captain Pixel: the Game Master
I ❤ Aniki
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Post by Dub H on Aug 12, 2019 17:39:08 GMT -5
I wanted this so much.Now Shooter has forever a piece of Moxley's run!
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Post by cabbageboy on Aug 12, 2019 17:41:07 GMT -5
Let's be real here. One key guy left (Omega). The rest of The Elite guys were just passing through or were in spots that didn't mean a ton to NJPW's overall picture (Bucks). It's really ROH that lost a ton of key talents and have just died at the gate since the MSG show.
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Dub H
Crow T. Robot
Captain Pixel: the Game Master
I ❤ Aniki
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Post by Dub H on Aug 12, 2019 17:42:34 GMT -5
Let's be real here. One key guy left (Omega). The rest of The Elite guys were just passing through or were in spots that didn't mean a ton to NJPW's overall picture (Bucks). It's really ROH that lost a ton of key talents and have just died at the gate since the MSG show. Cody was also playing a big part of the Bullet Club story,of course he was not big as Omega.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 12, 2019 17:45:37 GMT -5
Let's be real here. One key guy left (Omega). The rest of The Elite guys were just passing through or were in spots that didn't mean a ton to NJPW's overall picture (Bucks). It's really ROH that lost a ton of key talents and have just died at the gate since the MSG show. Cody was also playing a big part of the Bullet Club story,of course he was not big as Omega. Cody was a weird fit for NJPW. Like, I didn't mind him being there, and I didn't even mind him wanting to Starscream the Bullet Club because he was jealous of Kenny. But that triple threat with Ibushi just didn't feel right at all. He literally says to Kenny "Hey, we're friends again, why don't I get a title shot, too?", and Kenny just says "Well, alright." That, and he never did a G1 stint.
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Post by 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger on Aug 12, 2019 17:46:10 GMT -5
Let's be real here. One key guy left (Omega). The rest of The Elite guys were just passing through or were in spots that didn't mean a ton to NJPW's overall picture (Bucks). It's really ROH that lost a ton of key talents and have just died at the gate since the MSG show. Cody was also playing a big part of the Bullet Club story,of course he was not big as Omega. He barely appeared on NJPW shows though. That whole Cody run felt really strange and clunky. Almost all of his angle with Kenny was done in ROH.
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Post by cabbageboy on Aug 12, 2019 17:46:52 GMT -5
Yeah Cody veered in and out of NJPW but was hardly a full timer there. Cody was more about giving American fans a recognizable name. To Japanese fans I doubt he would be missed all that much.
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Post by AwamoriRock on Aug 12, 2019 17:49:48 GMT -5
Cody’s run culminated in trying to make US title and G1 irrelevant in one night while part timing, I don’t think he exactly left a gaping void.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 12, 2019 17:51:34 GMT -5
Cody was also playing a big part of the Bullet Club story,of course he was not big as Omega. Cody was a weird fit for NJPW. Like, I didn't mind him being there, and I didn't even mind him wanting to Starscream the Bullet Club because he was jealous of Kenny. But that triple threat with Ibushi just didn't feel right at all. He literally says to Kenny "Hey, we're friends again, why don't I get a title shot, too?", and Kenny just says "Well, alright." That, and he never did a G1 stint. He wouldn't have fit in the G1 in my opinion His style just never fit in NJPW
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Aug 12, 2019 18:06:54 GMT -5
The Kevstaaa IDK. I remember people being pretty pissy about Naito losing at WK to Okada but it wasn't as harsh as it is now. Naito was still red hot but two years later and he has not reached that same fever pitch high and people are concerned. He spent a year doing nothing and wasting time with Jericho and this year his matches with Ibushi has been fun but it doesn't feel like he has a bigger plan in mind. People see the writing on the wall and as I said before this felt like a year where Naito had to do it or you risk it being too late if you do it later That's what I meant, I guess. Like, I feel it was more outrageous for him to lose at WK. That's when people should have been mad. I know Gedo is all about long term storytelling, but that was already four years in the making. If it didn't happen then, it wasn't ever going to. That's why this one doesn't seem as disappointing to me.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Aug 12, 2019 18:08:54 GMT -5
I'll post more thought later. But man...NJPW 2019 is wrecking the shit out of NJPW 2018. Never thought I'd say that back in January when so many key guys left to start a new promotion. Interesting that you feel this way. I've seen a lot of people, myself included, less happy with New Japan this year. They have great matches but a lot of what they do feels hollow to me.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 12, 2019 18:11:12 GMT -5
The Kevstaaa IDK. I remember people being pretty pissy about Naito losing at WK to Okada but it wasn't as harsh as it is now. Naito was still red hot but two years later and he has not reached that same fever pitch high and people are concerned. He spent a year doing nothing and wasting time with Jericho and this year his matches with Ibushi has been fun but it doesn't feel like he has a bigger plan in mind. People see the writing on the wall and as I said before this felt like a year where Naito had to do it or you risk it being too late if you do it later That's what I meant, I guess. Like, I feel it was more outrageous for him to lose at WK. That's when people should have been mad. I know Gedo is all about long term storytelling, but that was already four years in the making. If it didn't happen then, it wasn't ever going to. That's why this one doesn't seem as disappointing to me. I sometimes feel like I'm the biggest idiot, because I'm letting the WWE mindset color what I'm seeing. Like, I know that absolutely NOBODY on-screen will ever bring up the meta aspect of Naito constantly being stifled by whoever Gedo just happens to be kayfabe aligned with. But it's still really, really hard not to read that into how everything has played out.
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Post by AwamoriRock on Aug 12, 2019 18:13:31 GMT -5
That's what I meant, I guess. Like, I feel it was more outrageous for him to lose at WK. That's when people should have been mad. I know Gedo is all about long term storytelling, but that was already four years in the making. If it didn't happen then, it wasn't ever going to. That's why this one doesn't seem as disappointing to me. I sometimes feel like I'm the biggest idiot, because I'm letting the WWE mindset color what I'm seeing. Like, I know that absolutely NOBODY on-screen will ever bring up the meta aspect of Naito constantly being stifled by whoever Gedo just happens to be kayfabe aligned with. But it's still really, really hard not to read that into how everything has played out. In his initial run Naito brought it up a looot but used Kidani instead of Gedo. It was great. You’re also not reading into anything—that’s just how it is.
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clifford
King Koopa
Shingo Takagi stan
Posts: 10,683
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Post by clifford on Aug 12, 2019 18:18:02 GMT -5
G1 29 in the books; my first G1 watched start to finish and I loved it. Some questionable booking decisions to be sure, but the in ring action and storytelling was off the chart, and I loved Ibushi winning. Loved it. The final was just a fantastic story and spectacle.
My own personal G1 29 awards; Match of the tournament: Shingo vs Ishii Honourable mentions: Okada vs SANADA, Okada vs KENTA, Shinjo vs Naito, Ishii vs Juice, Ospreay vs Okada, Archer vs Ospreay, Moxley vs Ishii, White vs Ibushi, to name a few!!!
Wrestler of the tournament: Tomohiro Ishii Honourable mentions: Kota Ibushi, Shingo Takagi, Kuzuchika Okada
Overachiever of the tournament: Lance Archer Honourable mentions: Taichi, Hirooki Goto
Best WTF of the tournament: Moxley beating Naito Honourable mentions: White beating Naito, Fale's techincal prowess, White's CHAOS losing run
Promo of the tournament: Mox at Korukuen Hall after beating Ishii Honourable mentions: SANADA in Osaka after beating Okada, Mox backstage after losing to Yano
Favourite moment of the tournament: SHIBATA!!!!
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Post by Starshine on Aug 12, 2019 18:28:02 GMT -5
The Kevstaaa IDK. I remember people being pretty pissy about Naito losing at WK to Okada but it wasn't as harsh as it is now. Naito was still red hot but two years later and he has not reached that same fever pitch high and people are concerned. He spent a year doing nothing and wasting time with Jericho and this year his matches with Ibushi has been fun but it doesn't feel like he has a bigger plan in mind. People see the writing on the wall and as I said before this felt like a year where Naito had to do it or you risk it being too late if you do it later That's what I meant, I guess. Like, I feel it was more outrageous for him to lose at WK. That's when people should have been mad. I know Gedo is all about long term storytelling, but that was already four years in the making. If it didn't happen then, it wasn't ever going to. That's why this one doesn't seem as disappointing to me. I totally get the frustrations. I was certain Naito was beating Okada then too. But then later we learned about the record breaking business that was being done at the same time with Okada on top, and it makes sense that they’d keep that ship floating longer. So it’s not so much NJPW did anything wrong so much as it seems like they played it safe rather than risk bucking that trend. We also can’t really point to any metrics that show they failed by eschewing that route.
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Post by AwamoriRock on Aug 12, 2019 18:46:44 GMT -5
That's what I meant, I guess. Like, I feel it was more outrageous for him to lose at WK. That's when people should have been mad. I know Gedo is all about long term storytelling, but that was already four years in the making. If it didn't happen then, it wasn't ever going to. That's why this one doesn't seem as disappointing to me. I totally get the frustrations. I was certain Naito was beating Okada then too. But then later we learned about the record breaking business that was being done at the same time with Okada on top, and it makes sense that they’d keep that ship floating longer. So it’s not so much NJPW did anything wrong so much as it seems like they played it safe rather than risk bucking that trend. We also can’t really point to any metrics that show they failed by eschewing that route. Okada is a huge draw. Do you think if he lost to the most popular wrestler and didn’t hold the title for a couple months it would be risk bucking a trend? Because he lost to Kenny and business didn’t exactly plummet even during a reign nobody is going to be penning in epics anytime soon.
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Post by Starshine on Aug 12, 2019 18:51:12 GMT -5
I totally get the frustrations. I was certain Naito was beating Okada then too. But then later we learned about the record breaking business that was being done at the same time with Okada on top, and it makes sense that they’d keep that ship floating longer. So it’s not so much NJPW did anything wrong so much as it seems like they played it safe rather than risk bucking that trend. We also can’t really point to any metrics that show they failed by eschewing that route. Okada is a huge draw. Do you think if he lost to the most popular wrestler and didn’t hold the title for a couple months it would be risk bucking a trend? Because he lost to Kenny and business didn’t exactly plummet even during a reign nobody is going to be penning in epics anytime soon. I'm not booking, so I can't answer that. But IIRC the shows headlined with Okada were doing notably better than those that weren't. Maybe they just thought Omega was the better bet, and instead of using Naito to transition the belt, decided to keep that money train a-running.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 12, 2019 19:02:25 GMT -5
Okada is a huge draw. Do you think if he lost to the most popular wrestler and didn’t hold the title for a couple months it would be risk bucking a trend? Because he lost to Kenny and business didn’t exactly plummet even during a reign nobody is going to be penning in epics anytime soon. I'm not booking, so I can't answer that. But IIRC the shows headlined with Okada were doing notably better than those that weren't. Maybe they just thought Omega was the better bet, and instead of using Naito to transition the belt, decided to keep that money train a-running. The most simple answer is he was not willing to get off the Okada train just yet. In that decision it hindered Naito and his story since it was a multi year journey that was supposed to culminate in him being victor but Gedo had other ideas. Omega wasn't ready at WK beforehand and it seems Gedo wasn't letting anything get in the way of the Okada reign he wanted When they got AJ he pushed pause on Okada in terms of long term champ. Then when Naito got white hot he couldn't ignore him and have him lose so he got a 60 day run. This time everything he wanted to do, he did
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