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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 (OT) SURABANAKA DESU!!!
- Thread starter Empyrean Heaven
- Start date
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MegaKungFuRadio
Member
Sweat fans are gross.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
Huh, no Ai Shimasu?
EDIT: Wait, here it is.
EDIT: Wait, here it is.
Great PPV. Last two matches were ridiculous. JR seemed a little lost in the beginning but he picked it up once they got to the singles matches. He did fine considering he's 63, hasn't commentated a major wrestling event in years and was commentating NJPW for the first time ever.
Will definitely try to watch more than just WK and G1 like I did last year, but hopefully their English presence will increase. Would love to see more English commentary even if it isn't JR.
Edit: Damn near 6:00 AM. I'm so fucked on Monday morning.
Will definitely try to watch more than just WK and G1 like I did last year, but hopefully their English presence will increase. Would love to see more English commentary even if it isn't JR.
Edit: Damn near 6:00 AM. I'm so fucked on Monday morning.
Serpentine
Banned
lmao
Empyrean Heaven
Member
Hey everyone, thanks so much for joining me in this OT. I hope I got a few more new fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling, and I hope everyone enjoyed the show. This was a labor of love and I hope everyone now sees why it's the best wrestling promotion in the world.
MegaKungFuRadio
Member
I'm going to have to rewatch this with Japanese commentary. I didn't really feel it from JR tonight.
Best combat sports promotion. Nothing beats njpw right now.
He was good overall. Took a while to get into it, and his limited knowledge of the product was an issue at times, but he was great in the second half of the show and really enhanced the main events.
Serpentine
Banned
christ, what a great wrestling event. Really glad I decided to sign up for NJPW World this year.
Net_Wrecker
Member
Great show. Nak/Ibushi was amazing.
This was my first time watching NJPW. First thought is this company is far more deserving of $10 a month than WWE.
I will go back and watch the full card again uninterrupted, but right now my favorite of the night was Makabe vs Ishii.
Overall this felt like a modern version of when I watched Clash of the Champions 1 and became a wrestling fan that night.
I will go back and watch the full card again uninterrupted, but right now my favorite of the night was Makabe vs Ishii.
Overall this felt like a modern version of when I watched Clash of the Champions 1 and became a wrestling fan that night.
Pristine_Condition
Member
Really great show. Not as crazy end to end as the tourney maybe, (hard to beat that) but really great.
The semi-main was just unbelievable. My favorite match of the night for sure.
JR really loves the Rainmaker's dropkick. I think he had an out of body experience.
This show will not be erased from my DVR as long as I have it.
The semi-main was just unbelievable. My favorite match of the night for sure.
JR really loves the Rainmaker's dropkick. I think he had an out of body experience.
This show will not be erased from my DVR as long as I have it.
Pristine_Condition
Member
He was completely lost in all the scrambles and tags. But he came around for The Saku match and was pretty dang fun in the last two matches. If that was JRs last call, I think he'd be fine with it. It's a darn sight better than going out calling NXT or Superstars or whatever the hell he was stuck with at the end in WWE or his failure trying his hand at MMA. He may not have been able to call all the spots, but he made that Main Event feel HUGE, and that's what a good announcer does.
just woke up and saw that tanahashiwinslol, he truly is japan's cena. Im not even mad, at least the matches are good
how was the show overall? and did Nak / Ibushi deliver as much as the g1 23 match?
how was the show overall? and did Nak / Ibushi deliver as much as the g1 23 match?
Serpentine
Banned
I'm afraid you've got some bad luck
Empyrean Heaven
Member
I pretty much agree, I may have liked Okada/Tanahashi a little more (need to watch both matches again) but both main events were fucking stellar. I'd also take off Taguchi/Omega and put AJ/Naito in the 4 spot and maybe put Suzuki/Sakuraba at 5 but I did love the moment of Goto/Shibata winning the tag belts.
My one issue with this is that there really wasn't any sea change in the main event scene. Tanahashi is still the ace, Okada still can't win the gold at the dome, Nakamura is still based but holds the #2 belt, Ibushi can't move up to heavyweight, AJ is still a killer, and Naito still can't win on a big stage. I feel like there's a bit of a holding pattern going on in the booking, which is okay if the matches are good (and they are AMAZING) but that can only hold you for so long. Maybe it's because I'm used to American wrestling where the stories dictate the matches, instead of Japan where it's the other way around. Based on that I felt this show was booked less about angle advancement and more about showcasing NJPW to the world, which it did VERY well.
Anyway, I expect we'll see Tanahashi vs. AJ at New Beginning, and hopefully a Nak/Ibushi rematch.
Oh my God, I totally forgot that they had Jim bloody Ross calling pre-golden era NXT.
shaowebb
Member
I told you all it would!
That is like predicting grass is green and snow is white though.
The main event was quality but I thought the semi was better. Tanahashi and okada have had better matches which is remarkable. They never disappoint.
There's two things about the main that put it slightly under the I match, but it's hard to say without spoilers.
2 finisher kickouts which are getting overdone and the half hour celebration mad me hate the top five as much as Cena. Couple of matches could have gotten more time
Aeternus Malum
Member
I fell asleep on the Heavyweight tag team match but I'll definitely continue once I get home from work. People on Twitter are still buzzing about this show, bigger buzz than anything WWE has put out in years.
I spent the whole first match just marking out. I almost lost my mind hearing JR say "Superkick Party". What a time to be a wrestling fan.
I spent the whole first match just marking out. I almost lost my mind hearing JR say "Superkick Party". What a time to be a wrestling fan.
slightconfuse
Banned
Fell asleep during the main event. I expected tanahashi to win
British Monsoon
Member
Enjoyed the show overall, the 4 hour no intermission time-slot had its ups and downs, I generally liked how focussed the show felt, but it lacked something with the entrances being rushed, fewer video packages and some of the undercard matches could've done with a few more minutes, the jr. tag title match especially. That's not to say it didn't have the big show feel, it absolutely did, but perhaps a notch down on the pageantry from last year. I thought everything from the 4th match onwards was well worth a watch, MiSu & Sakuaba brought it in their UWFi rules match, so many awesome touches to this and I loved how Suzuki sold his arm. Makabe & Ishii slugged the hell out of each other and I liked the finish playing into Ishii's fucked up shoulder. The Jr. title match was a Taguchi match, but he's always worked well with Omega and Kenny's goofy-ass anime character come to life persona made this entertaining. The tag title match was probably Karl & Doc's best match teaming together, they told a good story by teasing the mis-communication between Shibata & Goto that had plagued them early on in the tag league and the pay-off was awesome.
Naito vs Styles was a great singles bout, just a bit below their G1 encounter I'd say, although there Naito getting busted open added a lot to it and the crowd so badly wanted him to win. It was a different story here, both guys still did tremendously well, but I think this match may end up overlooked in the grand scheme of things. The IC title match was my match of the night, Nakamura is such an amazing character, everything he does feeds into his persona. He really is the complete package and I adored the story they showed here, Nakamura just oozing disrespect for Ibushi, who is perfectly suited to the fiery underdog role. They had me hook, line and sinker on the nearfall when Ibushi hit the boma ye, I think 2015 is going to be a very big year for him. Lastly, that main event - on the one hand I don't know what to make of the outcome, as
, but on the other hand I think they worked an expertly paced match that's going to serve as great character development for
down the line.
Also, regarding the
. Going to be interesting to see what comes of this and where the titles go from here. Both the IWGP & IC belts will need challengers for New Beginning in February, I could see Suzuki going for either. Styles has to be back in contention, as well. Also, early NJ Cup final prediction;
, book it.
Naito vs Styles was a great singles bout, just a bit below their G1 encounter I'd say, although there Naito getting busted open added a lot to it and the crowd so badly wanted him to win. It was a different story here, both guys still did tremendously well, but I think this match may end up overlooked in the grand scheme of things. The IC title match was my match of the night, Nakamura is such an amazing character, everything he does feeds into his persona. He really is the complete package and I adored the story they showed here, Nakamura just oozing disrespect for Ibushi, who is perfectly suited to the fiery underdog role. They had me hook, line and sinker on the nearfall when Ibushi hit the boma ye, I think 2015 is going to be a very big year for him. Lastly, that main event - on the one hand I don't know what to make of the outcome, as
Okada vs Styles for the title seemed to be writing itself
Okada
Also, regarding the
finisher spam, the HFF has been established as a combo sort of move, Tana doesn't often beat top-tier opponents with just one. As for the Rainmaker, this was a BIG deal as it's easily the most protected move in recent years. However, earlier in the year Okada said he had invented a new move, but he wouldn't debut it until someone kicked out of the Rainmaker. He then said he didn't expect that to happen until 2025, so this played into the theme of the match and Tana's post-match comments basically putting the arrogant Okada in his place
Ibushi vs Okada
Empyrean Heaven
Member
I agree with you that I'm a little confused with the booking of the main event, You're risking fan burnout with Tanahashi if he continues to get the big win in the Tokyo Dome, you started to see that last night with half the fans cheering for Okada. While Tanahashi certainly has more skill than Cena, I think Tanahashi going to the ring, dropping 6-7 HFFs, doing his air guitar thing and screaming "Ai shimasu" is starting to get old, and look at what happened to Cena when his shtick got old. Not to mention Tanahashi is older than Cena and getting past his prime, they have a guy who can take over as the new Ace right there and they still refuse to give him the big win on the big stage.
New Japan's problem is that they haven't elevated any new guys they can plug into the main event scene, which the exception now of Ibushi. Sure there was AJ but he was already a well-established main eventer before joining NJPW. I love Naito but he keeps losing the big one, and there's only so many combinations of Tanahashi/Okada/AJ they can do right now, and to make matters worse you just stuck two guys who should be in the main event into the tag division with Goto and Shibata. Not saying they can't challenge for the titles while being tag champs. Also it's past time they got the IC title off of Swagsuke so he can go after the IWGP title again...the belt is prestigious enough, and I know Gedo and Jado love having him as champ so he can main event the twin shows like New Beginning and Dominion but he is so far beyond it right now it's disgusting.
Really people making comparisons between Tanahashi and Cena?
Tanahashi actually has ability and has a cv containing numerous great matches. Yes I personally hoped he would of stayed away from the title for longer but man c'mon champion or not Tanahashi does not disappoint when it comes to match quality.
Tanahashi actually has ability and has a cv containing numerous great matches. Yes I personally hoped he would of stayed away from the title for longer but man c'mon champion or not Tanahashi does not disappoint when it comes to match quality.
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