Pushed to the Moon
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Tony Schiavone in Disguise
Working myself into a shoot
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Post by Pushed to the Moon on Jun 9, 2018 18:14:50 GMT -5
Watched the Jericho and Omega matches. Thought Jericho's match was pretty damn good minus the slight mess up towards the end. I couldn't tell if the crowd were supporting Jericho or Naito and it sounded to me like they were kinda flip flopping between booing and cheering both guys which was kinda weird. Not in a 50/50 Cena way but everyone doing the same thing together. Osaka has hated Naito since WK8 but it's waned somewhat since last year with Naito getting more cheers. I believe Naito has said he prefers Osaka boos him and hope it never changes They got behind him in certain instances but yeah that's how it is. You also have to take into account that Jericho is so into his hated dick head routine he doesn't care though i'm pretty sure he doesn't know the history of Naito and Osaka. Also got to remember Jericho got some cheers against Kenny as well so despite him being the most despicable heel this side of Minoru Suzuki the crowd was always going to be 50/50 at best but lean a little more towards Jericho
I see. That was the first time I'd seen Naito so I'm not aware of his backstory. I guess they were probably just excited to see Jericho too in spite of his actions. I don't know if I was imagining it but it seemed like the crowd booed certain things no matter who did it. Like at some point they were cheering Naito getting in offence but then when he choked Jericho across the ropes with his foot they were like "Booooo that's not fair!" which was pretty interesting if I'm not making it up!
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Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jun 9, 2018 18:27:23 GMT -5
Osaka has hated Naito since WK8 but it's waned somewhat since last year with Naito getting more cheers. I believe Naito has said he prefers Osaka boos him and hope it never changes They got behind him in certain instances but yeah that's how it is. You also have to take into account that Jericho is so into his hated dick head routine he doesn't care though i'm pretty sure he doesn't know the history of Naito and Osaka. Also got to remember Jericho got some cheers against Kenny as well so despite him being the most despicable heel this side of Minoru Suzuki the crowd was always going to be 50/50 at best but lean a little more towards Jericho
I see. That was the first time I'd seen Naito so I'm not aware of his backstory. I guess they were probably just excited to see Jericho too in spite of his actions. I don't know if I was imagining it but it seemed like the crowd booed certain things no matter who did it. Like at some point they were cheering Naito getting in offence but then when he choked Jericho across the ropes with his foot they were like "Booooo that's not fair!" which was pretty interesting if I'm not making it up! If SHowbuckle videos didn't get taken down I would have recommended you his videos on Youtube. He did a great retrospective on Fall and Rise of Naito
And yeah as I said Osaka and Naito are funny with each other. They really weren't behind either guy 100% and went with the flow. Naito by definition is a "heel" but it's not black and white in NJPW as you can see with him being the somewhat babyface to Jericho's all in douche bag heel but Naito will still use underhanded tactics.
Naito since WK has been somewhat in flux. He in storyline has been widely criticized for not being "tranquilo" and playing to the crowd at WK which cost him his redemption against Okada. His two feud since with Minoru and Jericho are obviously against seedier individuals but with Naito being arguably the most popular person on NJPW he is a guy who will get his fair amount of cheers but Osaka is always his battle ground
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2018 18:39:47 GMT -5
I see. That was the first time I'd seen Naito so I'm not aware of his backstory. I guess they were probably just excited to see Jericho too in spite of his actions. I don't know if I was imagining it but it seemed like the crowd booed certain things no matter who did it. Like at some point they were cheering Naito getting in offence but then when he choked Jericho across the ropes with his foot they were like "Booooo that's not fair!" which was pretty interesting if I'm not making it up! If SHowbuckle videos didn't get taken down I would have recommended you his videos on Youtube. He did a great retrospective on Fall and Rise of Naito And yeah as I said Osaka and Naito are funny with each other. They really weren't behind either guy 100% and went with the flow. Naito by definition is a "heel" but it's not black and white in NJPW as you can see with him being the somewhat babyface to Jericho's all in douche bag heel but Naito will still use underhanded tactics.
Naito since WK has been somewhat in flux. He in storyline has been widely criticized for not being "tranquilo" and playing to the crowd at WK which cost him his redemption against Okada. His two feud since with Minoru and Jericho are obviously against seedier individuals but with Naito being arguably the most popular person on NJPW he is a guy who will get his fair amount of cheers but Osaka is always his battle ground
Showbuckles videos are all up on Vimeo now. Its bs that they and Real Neat Puro got taken down.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
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Post by chazraps on Jun 9, 2018 19:32:06 GMT -5
Oh yeah, like if you don't have New Years plan, and you're making the trip anyway, definitely be there for New Years. Like I said, it's their biggest holiday of the year so 1) everything is gorgeous 2) everyone is happy and helpful 3) everyone is out of town so there's next to no lines at all the major landmarks you want to see 4) historically speaking seeing the Emperor is pretty big. Were you planning on just doing Tokyo or more of Japan outside of it? Plan was a bit of everywhere really. Tokyo, try and head over to Kyoto and Osaka, maybe get out to Okinawa or Sapporo or Hiroshima/Itsukushima. Basically as many places as possible dependent on how much work leave I can get at once/budget I can save. Gotcha, totally get when you're coming from on that, but keep in mind that in Tokyo there's sooooo much. It's a massive major city with so many neighborhoods. My trip was 8 days and I just did Tokyo and even then I still missed two or three things I still wanted to catch. Also, English is the #2 language in Tokyo. In addition to all public signs and announcements made in English right after being made in Japanese, to graduate the equivalent of high school in Tokyo you have to learn at least six years of English, so everyone can speak it enough to where you won't be lost or stuck. As soon as you leave the limits of Tokyo, that immediately changes. I'd recommend learning a bit of conversational Japanese to get around those areas. What was a super help to me was Japan Society, a YouTube account that does tremendous Japanese lessons. I'd start my day watching a lesson so as I woke up (they're like 6 minutes each) and then it would be the last thing I'd see before going to bed. I'd repeat the same lesson each day until I had it memorized without it and then moved on to the next. Even with six months you have pleeeenty of time to learn the basic conversational Japanese. Check it out:
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Post by AwamoriRock on Jun 9, 2018 19:33:15 GMT -5
Osaka has hated Naito since WK8 but it's waned somewhat since last year with Naito getting more cheers. I believe Naito has said he prefers Osaka boos him and hope it never changes They got behind him in certain instances but yeah that's how it is. You also have to take into account that Jericho is so into his hated dick head routine he doesn't care though i'm pretty sure he doesn't know the history of Naito and Osaka. Also got to remember Jericho got some cheers against Kenny as well so despite him being the most despicable heel this side of Minoru Suzuki the crowd was always going to be 50/50 at best but lean a little more towards Jericho
I see. That was the first time I'd seen Naito so I'm not aware of his backstory. I guess they were probably just excited to see Jericho too in spite of his actions. I don't know if I was imagining it but it seemed like the crowd booed certain things no matter who did it. Like at some point they were cheering Naito getting in offence but then when he choked Jericho across the ropes with his foot they were like "Booooo that's not fair!" which was pretty interesting if I'm not making it up! This isn't as in depth as the videos you were recommended, but this is a pretty short and sweet Twitter thread that breaks down some of his relationship with Osaka. It's complicated, but he essentially is bitterly defiant that he has actually changed (at least until very recently when he hinted at feeling love when he won G1), and feels that if Osaka booed who he was back then they should stick to their guns and not be a bunch of frauds about it.
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Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jun 9, 2018 19:53:19 GMT -5
Plan was a bit of everywhere really. Tokyo, try and head over to Kyoto and Osaka, maybe get out to Okinawa or Sapporo or Hiroshima/Itsukushima. Basically as many places as possible dependent on how much work leave I can get at once/budget I can save. Gotcha, totally get when you're coming from on that, but keep in mind that in Tokyo there's sooooo much. It's a massive major city with so many neighborhoods. My trip was 8 days and I just did Tokyo and even then I still missed two or three things I still wanted to catch. Also, English is the #2 language in Tokyo. In addition to all public signs and announcements made in English right after being made in Japanese, to graduate the equivalent of high school in Tokyo you have to learn at least six years of English, so everyone can speak it enough to where you won't be lost or stuck. As soon as you leave the limits of Tokyo, that immediately changes. I'd recommend learning a bit of conversational Japanese to get around those areas. What was a super help to me was Japan Society, a YouTube account that does tremendous Japanese lessons. I'd start my day watching a lesson so as I woke up (they're like 6 minutes each) and then it would be the last thing I'd see before going to bed. I'd repeat the same lesson each day until I had it memorized without it and then moved on to the next. Even with six months you have pleeeenty of time to learn the basic conversational Japanese. Check it out: You can learn Hiragana and Katakana in as little as 2 weeks as well if you study everyday. That was something I did a while back
One of the sites I used. You get a good amount of lessons for free but if you pay a one time fee of like $10 you get a whole bunch of things such as vocab, numbers, time, dates, basic grammar, how to use verbs, sentence construction, basically everything you would need if you decide to want to learn it on a serious level as well
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chrom
Backup Wench
Master of the rare undecuple post
Posts: 85,736
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Post by chrom on Jun 9, 2018 21:15:50 GMT -5
Golden Elite shirts are already on sale
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Post by "Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat on Jun 9, 2018 22:34:05 GMT -5
I missed the live showing of this, am I being blind or is it not on NJPWworld??
EDIT: found it, turns out I am blind.
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Jun 9, 2018 22:35:27 GMT -5
Dude Kenny's coming into this match f***ing shredded!
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Post by HMARK Center on Jun 9, 2018 23:32:28 GMT -5
Ok, I can get somebody not wanting to support Elgin, but NJPW becoming "predictable"? Gotta disagree, I made six title match predictions and got exactly two of them correct.
I'll try a quick reaction match by match:
-Man, they're making SHO and YOH take the long road toward redemption, aren't they? They've grown, they've evolved to learn how to handle some of Suzuki-Gun's cheating, but they still can't overcome Nobu and Despy's Whisky Fun Time Hour. Given that they've now beaten LIJ and RP3K, I'm genuinely curious who NJPW can set up to face them; you can always throw KUSHIDA and Taguchi at them but those two only tend to tag in 6 or 8 man matches, and Liger/Tiger can make for a fun team and match but it's highly doubtful the old men would win. Might be a chance to throw Ishimori and Scurll together, or maybe it's time to bring in some new Jr. tag blood that nobody's thinking about right now.
-So, Juice vs. Jay is probably Match #1 for San Francisco, eh? I'm 100% down for it. Also want FinJuice to get into the tag title picture.
-So, Minoru vs. Ishii is probably Match #1 for the UK tour, eh? ...also 100% down for it, and REALLY wish it was being set up for San Francisco so I could see it live. I know some feel that Suzuki cooled off quickly after the Naito feud, but it's sadly just the way it is when your calendar revolves around things like weight class specific tournaments and stuff like that, the spotlight was simply off 99% of the heavyweights during the past month. Still, a nice run up to a clash with Ishii is the right thing to re-affirm his spot. Agreed that I wish this was over the IC belt, but doing it over the RevPro belt ain't bad, either.
-I didn't realize that Goto was out recently due to a neck injury; I remember him clutching at it after the Juice match but I guess that was more than just selling. Too bad, dude was in great form most of this year, that took some of the wind out of his sails. Solid match here, though; Goto going for charging offense and reversals is his bread and butter, and Taichi is just a damned delight. Definitely surprised at Elgin winning, hard to see him doing a defense in the US for another while longer; lot of people in the thread thinking he's cutting weight to get noticed by WWE, which might be for the best in the long haul. Hoping Goto gets a chance to go back into the IC title picture given how much better he's looked this year, and hoping Taichi nabs that NEVER gold and follows through on his threat to settle scores with some juniors (c'moooooooon future NEVER champ KUSHIDA...)
-WOW that tag title match. Makes me all the more bummed out that EVIL got hurt when he did, because man alive LIJ is a damn good team. Can't say enough good things about the Bucks, though, I don't know what else these guys can do to prove how great they are as a team for some people (obviously it's all subjective, but you know what I mean).
-Six man was goofy fun, and Rey's mask was aces. Seeing Rey healthy, agile, fast, at a size that suits his frame, etc., is something we should all appreciate given where Rey is in his career. I'll be sad if he heads back to WWE, but no matter what I hope he avoids working a full schedule and just does what he wants to do. Of course, I'd love to see him back in the Temple now and then, too...
-Jr. title match, wowzers. No, not quite on the level of the BoSJ final, but not far off the mark at all. Loved Ospreay tearing the floor padding off, having a change of heart, only for it to still bite him in the ass later when Hiromu hit the sunset bomb, which effectively sealed his fate. Ospreay came into his own and improved a lot as an all-arounder during this reign, but Hiromu is red hot right now and it was the time to strike.
-Naito/Jericho was just wonderful as a brawl, great stuff, though Jericho did get clumsy a bit too often (THAT FREAKING GANZO BOMB). Naito still looks strong given how he was blindsided and mugged the first half of the exchange, and it's clear they got the IC belt on him mostly to get it on Jericho and do some interesting things from there. Again, great brawl.
-It's hard to explain how I viewed the main event. In some ways it didn't quite have that same intense-in-the-moment quality that the first couple of Okada/Omega matches had, partly because of the fact this one didn't revolve around a single fall and because you can't recapture that initial feeling of "OH MY GOD WHAT AM I EVEN WATCHING THIS IS AMAZING AND CHANGES EVERYTHING" that I remember getting the first couple of times out. From an artistic standpoint, though, this may have surpassed their previous work together, kind of a transcendent quality given the storytelling, callbacks, and physicality involved. Think of it like a movie series where the first one shakes the film industry, but the eventual conclusion is arguably a more complete story, I guess?
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Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jun 10, 2018 0:13:00 GMT -5
Ok, I can get somebody not wanting to support Elgin, but NJPW becoming "predictable"? Gotta disagree, I made six title match predictions and got exactly two of them correct. I'll try a quick reaction match by match: -Man, they're making SHO and YOH take the long road toward redemption, aren't they? They've grown, they've evolved to learn how to handle some of Suzuki-Gun's cheating, but they still can't overcome Nobu and Despy's Whisky Fun Time Hour. Given that they've now beaten LIJ and RP3K, I'm genuinely curious who NJPW can set up to face them; you can always throw KUSHIDA and Taguchi at them but those two only tend to tag in 6 or 8 man matches, and Liger/Tiger can make for a fun team and match but it's highly doubtful the old men would win. Might be a chance to throw Ishimori and Scurll together, or maybe it's time to bring in some new Jr. tag blood that nobody's thinking about right now. -So, Juice vs. Jay is probably Match #1 for San Francisco, eh? I'm 100% down for it. Also want FinJuice to get into the tag title picture. -So, Minoru vs. Ishii is probably Match #1 for the UK tour, eh? ...also 100% down for it, and REALLY wish it was being set up for San Francisco so I could see it live. I know some feel that Suzuki cooled off quickly after the Naito feud, but it's sadly just the way it is when your calendar revolves around things like weight class specific tournaments and stuff like that, the spotlight was simply off 99% of the heavyweights during the past month. Still, a nice run up to a clash with Ishii is the right thing to re-affirm his spot. Agreed that I wish this was over the IC belt, but doing it over the RevPro belt ain't bad, either. -I didn't realize that Goto was out recently due to a neck injury; I remember him clutching at it after the Juice match but I guess that was more than just selling. Too bad, dude was in great form most of this year, that took some of the wind out of his sails. Solid match here, though; Goto going for charging offense and reversals is his bread and butter, and Taichi is just a damned delight. Definitely surprised at Elgin winning, hard to see him doing a defense in the US for another while longer; lot of people in the thread thinking he's cutting weight to get noticed by WWE, which might be for the best in the long haul. Hoping Goto gets a chance to go back into the IC title picture given how much better he's looked this year, and hoping Taichi nabs that NEVER gold and follows through on his threat to settle scores with some juniors (c'moooooooon future NEVER champ KUSHIDA...) -WOW that tag title match. Makes me all the more bummed out that EVIL got hurt when he did, because man alive LIJ is a damn good team. Can't say enough good things about the Bucks, though, I don't know what else these guys can do to prove how great they are as a team for some people (obviously it's all subjective, but you know what I mean). -Six man was goofy fun, and Rey's mask was aces. Seeing Rey healthy, agile, fast, at a size that suits his frame, etc., is something we should all appreciate given where Rey is in his career. I'll be sad if he heads back to WWE, but no matter what I hope he avoids working a full schedule and just does what he wants to do. Of course, I'd love to see him back in the Temple now and then, too... -Jr. title match, wowzers. No, not quite on the level of the BoSJ final, but not far off the mark at all. Loved Ospreay tearing the floor padding off, having a change of heart, only for it to still bite him in the ass later when Hiromu hit the sunset bomb, which effectively sealed his fate. Ospreay came into his own and improved a lot as an all-arounder during this reign, but Hiromu is red hot right now and it was the time to strike. -Naito/Jericho was just wonderful as a brawl, great stuff, though Jericho did get clumsy a bit too often (THAT FREAKING GANZO BOMB). Naito still looks strong given how he was blindsided and mugged the first half of the exchange, and it's clear they got the IC belt on him mostly to get it on Jericho and do some interesting things from there. Again, great brawl. -It's hard to explain how I viewed the main event. In some ways it didn't quite have that same intense-in-the-moment quality that the first couple of Okada/Omega matches had, partly because of the fact this one didn't revolve around a single fall and because you can't recapture that initial feeling of "OH MY GOD WHAT AM I EVEN WATCHING THIS IS AMAZING AND CHANGES EVERYTHING" that I remember getting the first couple of times out. From an artistic standpoint, though, this may have surpassed their previous work together, kind of a transcendent quality given the storytelling, callbacks, and physicality involved. Think of it like a movie series where the first one shakes the film industry, but the eventual conclusion is arguably a more complete story, I guess? You talked about Evil but surprised you didn't bring up the fact we could be getting him and Jericho
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Jun 10, 2018 0:19:48 GMT -5
Holy shit what a main event! The First two falls were unbelievable, each one telling a great story, the third fall I think was a bit overkill at times with the Rainmakers, but honestly that's more like a spelling error in a great essay. Kenny takes another spot in my top 5 of the year moving past the Ladder match from Takeover New Orleans comfortably in the #3 Spot for the year.
Right now it's looking like:
#1/2 Tie: Gargano Vs. Almas/ Gargano Vs. Ciampa #3: Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega #4: Kenny Omega Vs. Chris Jericho #5: Ladder match from Takeover.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jun 10, 2018 5:14:13 GMT -5
Holy shit what a main event! The First two falls were unbelievable, each one telling a great story, the third fall I think was a bit overkill at times with the Rainmakers, but honestly that's more like a spelling error in a great essay. Kenny takes another spot in my top 5 of the year moving past the Ladder match from Takeover New Orleans comfortably in the #3 Spot for the year. Right now it's looking like: #1/2 Tie: Gargano Vs. Almas/ Gargano Vs. Ciampa #3: Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega #4: Kenny Omega Vs. Chris Jericho #5: Ladder match from Takeover. See, I thought the Rainmakers were kind of necessary in the third fall, given how they made sure that Okada didn't hit one during the first two. It had me thoroughly convinced at times that he wold put things away as soon as he hit a full ripcord one and managed to get the pin quickly enough. Heck, I even felt like they drew on the Naito Wrestle Kingdom match by using the tombstone to great effect, as the ending to the WK 12 match was "Okada stops Naito's momentum dead with a tombstone to set up the final Rainmaker". I nearly leapt out of my skin when Kenny kept going for the somewhat Kami Goye-style knees, just waiting for the one that Okada would block and counter into his finishing combo. Hah, and to respond to above, yeah, I'm actually kind of surprised that EVIL was the only surefire next contender for a title we saw on this show, even if he didn't explicitly lay down his challenge. Jericho/EVIL is almost a given now, but when does it happen? Naito getting revenge on Jericho is also nearly a given, I would think, but when does THAT happen? Makes things nice and busy and come July G1 is going to be mixed in there, as well.
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Jun 10, 2018 5:16:21 GMT -5
That was as good as it could have been, though I think as someone who's been sick of this reign for a year I'm legally required to post this: ![](http://i.bittwiddlers.org/LYi.jpg)
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Post by HMARK Center on Jun 10, 2018 5:50:27 GMT -5
Fale wasn't at the show, but tweeted congratulations toward Kenny.
Meanwhile...
(cue dramatic string music)
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Post by Tea & Crumpets on Jun 10, 2018 5:57:55 GMT -5
Plan was a bit of everywhere really. Tokyo, try and head over to Kyoto and Osaka, maybe get out to Okinawa or Sapporo or Hiroshima/Itsukushima. Basically as many places as possible dependent on how much work leave I can get at once/budget I can save. Gotcha, totally get when you're coming from on that, but keep in mind that in Tokyo there's sooooo much. It's a massive major city with so many neighborhoods. My trip was 8 days and I just did Tokyo and even then I still missed two or three things I still wanted to catch. Also, English is the #2 language in Tokyo. In addition to all public signs and announcements made in English right after being made in Japanese, to graduate the equivalent of high school in Tokyo you have to learn at least six years of English, so everyone can speak it enough to where you won't be lost or stuck. As soon as you leave the limits of Tokyo, that immediately changes. I'd recommend learning a bit of conversational Japanese to get around those areas. What was a super help to me was Japan Society, a YouTube account that does tremendous Japanese lessons. I'd start my day watching a lesson so as I woke up (they're like 6 minutes each) and then it would be the last thing I'd see before going to bed. I'd repeat the same lesson each day until I had it memorized without it and then moved on to the next. Even with six months you have pleeeenty of time to learn the basic conversational Japanese. Check it out: Been marathoning Duolingo and a couple other language resources and getting pointers off a Japanese-speaking friend but there can't be too many sources, cheers man. I definitely don't plan on making it my only Japan trip, I've been wanting to go for like 10 years but never had the money until now, so maybe focusing down is a bit better at least to start with. Also, I know that Chono and I think Suzuki run merch/clothes stores in Tokyo, any idea where they are? I'd love to check them out, maybe pick up a suit from Chono's.
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Post by AwamoriRock on Jun 10, 2018 6:28:54 GMT -5
Gotcha, totally get when you're coming from on that, but keep in mind that in Tokyo there's sooooo much. It's a massive major city with so many neighborhoods. My trip was 8 days and I just did Tokyo and even then I still missed two or three things I still wanted to catch. Also, English is the #2 language in Tokyo. In addition to all public signs and announcements made in English right after being made in Japanese, to graduate the equivalent of high school in Tokyo you have to learn at least six years of English, so everyone can speak it enough to where you won't be lost or stuck. As soon as you leave the limits of Tokyo, that immediately changes. I'd recommend learning a bit of conversational Japanese to get around those areas. What was a super help to me was Japan Society, a YouTube account that does tremendous Japanese lessons. I'd start my day watching a lesson so as I woke up (they're like 6 minutes each) and then it would be the last thing I'd see before going to bed. I'd repeat the same lesson each day until I had it memorized without it and then moved on to the next. Even with six months you have pleeeenty of time to learn the basic conversational Japanese. Check it out: Been marathoning Duolingo and a couple other language resources and getting pointers off a Japanese-speaking friend but there can't be too many sources, cheers man. I definitely don't plan on making it my only Japan trip, I've been wanting to go for like 10 years but never had the money until now, so maybe focusing down is a bit better at least to start with. Also, I know that Chono and I think Suzuki run merch/clothes stores in Tokyo, any idea where they are? I'd love to check them out, maybe pick up a suit from Chono's. Suzuki's shop, Piledriver, is located in Harajuku www.piledriver.jp/fs/gotchstyle/c/toppage東京都渋谷区神宮前6-27-8京セラ原宿ビルB1 is the address you would put in. If NJPW isn't traveling, he's often there and will take pics with customers. As for Chono, I was under the impression his goods were mostly from his online shop. www.aristrist.com/But it appears they have a location in Ginza. www.aristrist.com/html/page2.html
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jun 10, 2018 8:47:09 GMT -5
![](https://i2.wp.com/fightboothpw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DfOJEHKV4AAXcJp.jpg?w=1137) NJPW Dominion June 9th, 2018 | Osaka Jo-Hall in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 11,832
Dominion is New Japan’s second biggest show of the year. Last year, they just repeated most of their Wrestle Kingdom card. This year, things are different, though the main events just see guys from WK swapped around.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru [c] vs. Roppongi 3K w/ Rocky Romero Roppongi 3K beat the champions in singles matches during the BOTSJ. SHO, YOH, and Desperado were great in the tournament. Kanemaru? Not so much. The challengers were ready for the champs, jumping them before the bell to turn the tables. That was kind of the story of this match. Roppongi 3K has become wise to the tricks of the Suzuki-Gun duo. They had counters for their stuff and managed to avoid a lot of Suzuki-Gun shenanigans. Near the end, Sho even got free of a low blow and looked to pick up the win with the Shock Arrow. However, Desperado countered, we got a ref bump and Kanemaru brought out the whiskey spit. That set up a Desperado rollup as the champs retained in 9:29. I enjoyed the story this told. RPG 3K were so close to overcoming from all they’ve learned, it just wasn’t enough. [***]
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White and YOSHI-HASHI This was here to continue the feud between Juice and Jay, though Finlay still has issues with the US Champion. Juice and David have won several tags in a row. YOSHI wasn’t a fan of Jay jumping Juice before the bell, continuing the trend of Jay being in CHAOS but not really being in CHAOS. Finlay took the heat for his guys. We got the great old school hot tag behind the referee’s back spot. Classic. The real hot tag didn’t have a ton of fire, but Juice was sure to involve the crowd in a lot of what he does. He has so much confidence in everything he does now. He ended up scoring the victory by hitting Pulp Friction on Jay White in 7:26! A big win for Juice as he pinned the US Heavyweight Champion. It should set up a title match, maybe at the Cow Palace. The match itself was some solid tag team wrestling. Dominion is off to a good start. [***]
RevPro British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. w/ TAKA Michinoku vs. RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano RevPro with some big representation. Ishii and Suzuki were at each other’s throats instantly. That was the main appeal of this match. Watching Suzuki and Ishii go to war. Yano was way out of his element and that played into a lot of the comedy he brought to the table. It ended up being a nice little addition to stand out in this match. Basically, when Yano was in, he was screaming and running. When Ishii was in, he was all about taking it right to Suzuki, even if it meant getting beat up. Sabre had some revenge on his mind as well, considering Ishii took the RevPro title from him. The finish was stellar, as Yano went to low blow Sabre, but he locked his knees together and blocked it. From there, Sabre slapped on a vicious armbar and Yano tapped in 8:42. Another strong tag match, though this was my favorite so far. The personalities involved made it work, while the intensity of Ishii/Suzuki was enough to have me dying to see their singles match. [***¼]
Post-match, Ishii went after Suzuki in the aisle. They fought back to the ring and began dueling with chairs. They ended up fighting at ringside by just slapping the shit out of each other.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto [c] vs. Michael Elgin vs. Taichi w/ Miho Abe I can’t stand Elgin, Taichi usually sucks, and Goto hasn’t meant much of anything since Okada Rainmakered him to the mid-card. Needless to say, I was not excited about this match. I will say, Elgin is in fantastic shape. This was mildly interesting to watch, as it featured some of the usual triple threat tropes we see in WWE. Like when one guy does a move and has to break up the pin because another guy tries to steal the pin right in front of him. Or the tower of doom spot. Stuff like that. Parts of this felt like an Elgin showcase since he was clearly booked to look the strongest. Just as Elgin and Goto began to do battle like their G1 banger in 2015, Taichi used the microphone stand to interrupt. He laughed like a villain, but his follow up offense wasn’t enough. The finish was cool, as Elgin lifted Taichi straight from a Gedo Clutch and into a Buckle Bomb. He then hit a second Buckle Bomb on Taichi into Goto and added the Elgin Bomb to win the title in 13:46. The first Westerner to hold the title. This was better than I expected. I thought it would be awful, but it was pretty good. A few too many obvious tropes were leaned on, but again, it was fine. However, not a fan of Elgin as champion, especially considering how folks have turned on him this year. [**¾]
IWGP Tag Team Championship: EVIL and SANADA [c] vs. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks The Bucks recently moved to the heavyweight division to prove they’re the best. Not sure what exactly they did to earn a shot except lose to the Golden Lovers. Still, this looked like one of the more interesting bouts. The Bucks worked better as a unit, having been a team forever, but the sheer size and strength of the champions was too much at points. Matt is STILL selling a back injury from Wrestle Kingdom, while Nick had his foot worked on and commentary sold it like it was broken. I wasn’t a fan of this match having a tower of doom spot, when we literally just got one in the previous match. Anyway, Nick’s foot came into play a lot. It stopped them from hitting an Indytaker and led to the champions hitting one of their own. The Bucks weathered the storm and survived a lot, before finally hitting More Bang For Your Buck and capturing the titles in 15:03. This was great. The Bucks have finally looked like a great tag team to me this year. They stepped away from their one dimensional comfort zone and have delivered some bangers. The selling was great and the action was fierce. I do think Nick did a bit too much with the bad foot, but that’s not a major gripe. Other than the Golden Lovers match, I believe this was my favorite Bucks outing ever. [****¼]
I do question the booking here. Before you Young Bucks fans get on me, hear me out. I think the Bucks should’ve lost here. Have their foot and back issues, plus size difference, present a new challenge. They relied a lot on their greatest hits and I think the better story would be that costing them. They could spend the next few months regrouping, win the World Tag League and win the big on in the Tokyo Dome. Just a thought.
Cody, Hangman Page, and NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion Marty Scurll vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Rey Mysterio Jr. This is a strange sounding six man tag. Marty, who kind of started this whole thing, was eager to talk smack to Mysterio, but did his best to avoid him. When he got his hands on Marty, he was all over him. He and Tanahashi did well in the early stages. Liger came in and eventually became the man to take the heat segment. Great spot for him as he was clearly the guy who would be booked the weakest on his team, but is so beloved that the crowd would sympathize. Mysterio and Tanahashi came in and did their things at separate times. Liger and Cody ended up as the legal men, with Liger falling to Cross Rhodes in 11:35. This mostly felt like a typical NJPW multi-man tag, except for the addition of Mysterio, who looked good. [***]
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi It’s the best junior in the world! Oh, and Ospreay is there, too. Their match in February was fantastic (****½) and Hiromu is coming off an incredible BOTSJ run. When these two wrestle, I want them to give us a reckless war. Of course, in the opening minutes, Will nearly killed himself with an insane dive off the ramp. However, Will slowed the pace because he realized how much Hiromu thrives in a fast paced match. Hiromu got going, showcasing some heavyweight like strikes that Will did his best to fire back. There were some awesome spots, like Will’s deadlift superplex followed by the Burning Star Press, or Hiromu hitting a Destroyer and going right into the triangle choke. To counter, Ospreay basically folded Hiromu and dropped him on his head. That kicked off an absolutely wild final few minutes. Hiromu countered Strom Breaker into the triangle choke. Though Ospreay didn’t quit, it was enough to wear him down for a corner DVD and Time Bomb to regain the gold in 20:20. Hiromu lost in February, saw Will hurt his neck a few months later, and came back with a newly developed submission to take back Mr. Belt. The match played off that and featured some of the frantic action we want from these two. [****½]
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Chris Jericho The story for this goes back six months. Jericho came out in a strange face painted goth getup. NJPW Jericho has been billed a more vicious, brutal character. He showed that by attacking Naito before the bell and powerbombing him through a table and hitting a DDT on another. Once the bell rang, Jericho tried for a quick win, but Naito was resilient. From there, these guys went to war, throwing big moves in and outside of the ring. That included Naito throwing a piledriver on a table. The match went back inside, but kept up the aggressive nature. Even when Jericho applied the Walls, he held it and reared back as if he was trying to do more than win. He wanted to hurt Naito. Jericho countering Naito’s rebound attack into a Codebreaker was one of my favorite spots. In the end, Jericho used a low blow and the Codebreaker to surprisingly become the IC Champion in 17:16. I’m really glad this wasn’t overly long. The pre-match attack set the tone for a war and they told a great story. Jericho badly wanted that tenth IC Title, but also wanted to destroy Naito. They had a match fitting of that. [****]
Post-match, Jericho continued the attack on Tetsuya Naito. Poor Naito lost at WK and again here. As Jericho whipped him with his belt, EVIL hit the ring and traded blows with Jericho. He hit a lariat to knock him down and got the belt. Jericho left with his title before he could get whipped. I’m all for Jericho vs. EVIL.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Two Out of Three Falls Match: Kazuchika Okada [c] w/ Gedo vs. Kenny Omega w/ Kota Ibushi All their matches been grossly rated by Dave Meltzer. I have their WK11 match at ****¼ (Okada won), the Dominion time limit draw at ***½, and Kenny’s G1 win at ****¾. It’s tiebreaker time, folks. Anyway, the first fall mostly went as you’d expect. They gave us some of the usual early Okada formula, though I liked how Omega had things scouted. For example, cutting off Okada’s guardrail cross body with a V-Trigger was great and looked painful. Omega was out to control the pace, saying he had more stamina. They both went for their finishers, yet were unable to connect. Knowing he beat Okada the one time he hit the One Winged Angel, Omega went for it a bit too much and Okada had counters ready. One counter led to a rollup situation. Okada blocked one and sat on Omega to take the first fall at 28:47. There was a two minute rest period in between falls. With the lead, Okada grew cocky. He smiled during the break and acted like he had this in the bag. To be fair, when you’ve barely been pinned twice in two years, getting pinned twice in a row in two matches seems highly unlikely. Omega had to try something new, bringing a table into play. When he hit a double stomp onto the table onto Okada, the champion began making sounds like Shane McMahon earlier this year. Okada is obsessed with proving himself in each match, so he went to use the table back on Kenny and call back to the huge back body drop spot Omega took. Omega stopped it and we got a call back to the dragon suplex through a table that Omega used to win the US Title last July. Omega never let up, pouncing on Okada at every chance. He finally hit the One Winged Angel to even the score after 47:47. The next fall began interestingly, as Okada was still dazed from the finisher, so Omega quickly hit a V-Trigger. However, Okada hit a Rainmaker out of desperation to get some breathing room. The final stretch was a tremendous show of how exhausted these guys were and how desperate they were to win. Omega hitting a One Winged Angel while basically falling over was great. Okada was dazed and completely out of it. Omega eventually hit another One Winged Angel to finally end Okada’s reign of terror after 64:50. Is this the best match ever? Absolutely not. It is an incredible one that is a MOTYC? Yes. I think this was better than their WK match and much better than their last Dominion outing. They told a great story and for the most part, they paced the match very well. There were tons of callbacks to their history and they all worked. My only gripe is that it didn’t play off their G1 match enough. That night showed that coming right at Okada was the best strategy instead of playing into his hands. If Omega really believed he had the stamina advantage, he could’ve come out hot like he did in the G1. Regardless, this is a tremendous match and I love that they didn’t try something absurd like going 75 minutes for the sake of it. [****¾]
Overall: 9.5/10. Hands down, the best NJPW show of the year. In fact, I’d only put it behind TakeOver: New Orleans for the show of the year. There was no filler on the card. Even the early tags had meaning (building Juice/White and Ishii/Suzuki). All the titles, except one changed hands, giving the company a fresh feeling for the first time in ages, especially at the top. Bucks/EVIL & SANADA was great, Naito/Jericho took a vicious story, and the Jr. Title was outrageous. The main event lived up to the hype and it all added up to one hell of a show.
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Jun 10, 2018 10:45:52 GMT -5
Holy shit what a main event! The First two falls were unbelievable, each one telling a great story, the third fall I think was a bit overkill at times with the Rainmakers, but honestly that's more like a spelling error in a great essay. Kenny takes another spot in my top 5 of the year moving past the Ladder match from Takeover New Orleans comfortably in the #3 Spot for the year. Right now it's looking like: #1/2 Tie: Gargano Vs. Almas/ Gargano Vs. Ciampa #3: Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega #4: Kenny Omega Vs. Chris Jericho #5: Ladder match from Takeover. See, I thought the Rainmakers were kind of necessary in the third fall, given how they made sure that Okada didn't hit one during the first two. It had me thoroughly convinced at times that he wold put things away as soon as he hit a full ripcord one and managed to get the pin quickly enough. Heck, I even felt like they drew on the Naito Wrestle Kingdom match by using the tombstone to great effect, as the ending to the WK 12 match was "Okada stops Naito's momentum dead with a tombstone to set up the final Rainmaker". I nearly leapt out of my skin when Kenny kept going for the somewhat Kami Goye-style knees, just waiting for the one that Okada would block and counter into his finishing combo. Hah, and to respond to above, yeah, I'm actually kind of surprised that EVIL was the only surefire next contender for a title we saw on this show, even if he didn't explicitly lay down his challenge. Jericho/EVIL is almost a given now, but when does it happen? Naito getting revenge on Jericho is also nearly a given, I would think, but when does THAT happen? Makes things nice and busy and come July G1 is going to be mixed in there, as well. I thought it was a bit much when he was hitting like three in a row. But it was forgivable in the sense that he wasn't able to directly cover off his finisher due to the physical toll the match had taken. The V-trigger spam was also a bit much for me. But these are minor complaints on an outrageously good match. It was still an absolute classic with both men using a lot of call backs to their previous matches and doing new things along the way.
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Post by Final Countdown Jones on Jun 10, 2018 16:42:27 GMT -5
Amazing show, and while I wish my boy Naito had pulled it off, and I found the story of the match a little weird in how it sort of rocked back and forth in a few weird directions, I have enough faith there's something behind it and I'm willing to see it through. Just an amazing show overall and splitting it up so I didn't have the taste of piss in my mouth left from the Elgin win to stain the major matches.
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