Agreed, but people can still get tired of a wrestler's booking and character regardless of how good they are in the ring.
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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 (OT) SURABANAKA DESU!!!
- Thread starter Empyrean Heaven
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Agreed, but people can still get tired of a wrestler's booking and character regardless of how good they are in the ring.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
That's pretty much my point. Tanahashi is a great wrestler, one of the best in the world. But his booking is very comparable to John Cena in that he is the super hero to the fans and almost always wins on the big stage. I thought for sure last night would be Okada's night as the fans have really taken to him, but he was denied again.
From what I understand Jado and Gedo book stuff well in advance (like a year +) so I'm sure they have a plan. But for all the opportunities Okada has had with the championship only for Tanahashi to still one-up him at every opportunity, yeah, I'm getting a bit tired of it.
Also, this is the third straight year that someone has saved their G1 climax title shot until the dome and lost. So it's officially the anti-Money in the Bank.
I wanted to post the exact same thing. Can you imagine Okada just popping up, smiling, shrugging and then making a few lame jokes?
I REALLY don't like the skinny dude in the ROH team. Fucking hate how that dude moves and acts. He needs to put on some mass because he looks like a fucking goober. I also don't ever want to see any Forever Hooligans spot again.
Body wise, Jeff Jarrett hasn't aged in 20 years. It's crazy. He actually looks in better shape now than he did for the last 3-5 years of TNA. Match wasn't anything, though. Can't believe Honma won with the diving headbutt.
8 man is whatever. Fuck Yano. Hate seeing that dude. I mean actually seeing him with my eyeballs. He's disgusting. I hadn't seen the NOAH gaijin before. The one with tats has a good look.
Sakuraba/Suzuki was fun. I don't understand why Sak had the most dope pro wrestling entrances while doing MMA, yet the most standard entrances now that he's a full time pro wrestler.
Ishii/Makabe was...pretty much what I'd expect out of those two. I feel like I've seen this match 12 times. I hope Ishii losing means he's going to take some time off to heal up. Dude has been a wreck since the G1.
Funky Weapon is is lame as shit. The junior division is in dire straights right now. Omega is so stronk.
Really bummed that Anderson wasn't the one getting the shit kicked out of him in the tag match, but I a happy to see the Bash Bros dethrone the Bullet Club and celebrate like true bros.
AJ/Naito was dope. I've really become a fan of Naito and his ugly fish face over the last year. AJ is rad as usual. I'm always distracted by the eye right where Naito's asshole is, though.
Statue of Swagerty. The King of Swag. God damn that was rad as fuck. Especially from the point that Ibushi tapped into his inner grumpy cunt and just started stomping and punching Nak's skull repeatedly. Shit. That was DOPE. That's going to be a hard match to beat for the year.
Wasn't expecting Tanahashi to win. I really thought it would be the match where Okada is cemented as THE MAN. This was also dope. About the same quality as their great matches from 2014.
Ain't nothing topping Nak/Ibushi. God damn. That was a wonderful match. I'm hoping this year to get AJ get matches with Nak and Shibata. Those NEED to happen. I'd also like to see Ibushi getting serious with all the top guys.
Body wise, Jeff Jarrett hasn't aged in 20 years. It's crazy. He actually looks in better shape now than he did for the last 3-5 years of TNA. Match wasn't anything, though. Can't believe Honma won with the diving headbutt.
8 man is whatever. Fuck Yano. Hate seeing that dude. I mean actually seeing him with my eyeballs. He's disgusting. I hadn't seen the NOAH gaijin before. The one with tats has a good look.
Sakuraba/Suzuki was fun. I don't understand why Sak had the most dope pro wrestling entrances while doing MMA, yet the most standard entrances now that he's a full time pro wrestler.
Ishii/Makabe was...pretty much what I'd expect out of those two. I feel like I've seen this match 12 times. I hope Ishii losing means he's going to take some time off to heal up. Dude has been a wreck since the G1.
Funky Weapon is is lame as shit. The junior division is in dire straights right now. Omega is so stronk.
Really bummed that Anderson wasn't the one getting the shit kicked out of him in the tag match, but I a happy to see the Bash Bros dethrone the Bullet Club and celebrate like true bros.
AJ/Naito was dope. I've really become a fan of Naito and his ugly fish face over the last year. AJ is rad as usual. I'm always distracted by the eye right where Naito's asshole is, though.
Statue of Swagerty. The King of Swag. God damn that was rad as fuck. Especially from the point that Ibushi tapped into his inner grumpy cunt and just started stomping and punching Nak's skull repeatedly. Shit. That was DOPE. That's going to be a hard match to beat for the year.
Wasn't expecting Tanahashi to win. I really thought it would be the match where Okada is cemented as THE MAN. This was also dope. About the same quality as their great matches from 2014.
Ain't nothing topping Nak/Ibushi. God damn. That was a wonderful match. I'm hoping this year to get AJ get matches with Nak and Shibata. Those NEED to happen. I'd also like to see Ibushi getting serious with all the top guys.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
Lol, J/k Stro. Good rundown. I hope when you talk about the "ROH Skinny Guy" you're talking about O'Reilly and not Fish who I legit know. (not joking, he's from my hometown and we've met a few times. Been considering joining his CrossFit class.)
O'Riley looks like a 16 year old and like a complete tool doing all those MMA inspired things when he looks like a baby. Nothing about him looks threatening at all, so to be making all those power faces and shit is ridiculous. The other dude looks like a man who would stomp your dick in the dirt.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
Thank you. Because if you had ripped on my boy I would have stomped YOUR dick in the dirt.
...kidding of course. I actually kinda like O'Reilly, but he's definitely subservient to Fish in this team.
I don't think KENTA would have done well politically in NJPW. Marufuji's always had a good relationship with outsider promotions. KENTA, less so. I seem to remember a match with Nagata where things may have got slightly out of hand...
NihonTiger90
Member
I love Fish's look. I think it's the curly mustache that just cements him as being a bad ass.
Best match was Ibushi/Nakamura for sure with Tanahashi/Okada a close second; Sakuraba/Suzuki third; AJ/Naito fourth; Bullet Club vs. Goto/Shibata fifth.
Really good stuff up and down the card; happy to see that Omega won the title but not digging the Bullet Club coloring for his hair. Looks weird. Jarrett looked really good last night for someone his age. Glad to see he can still go a bit. Also, more Time Splitters, please.
Fuck Time Splitters. Fuck all the JR teams, really. So stale and rote. I'd love to see JJ against Shibata or something. I'd like to see how he reacts to super stiff kicks.
British Monsoon
Member
Bobby Fish carries reDRagon imo - they really should think of switching up to a veteran/disciple sort-of dynamic to the team. Bobby's the one who brings it all together, who actually looks like a bad-ass. Kyle looks like a little kid, so he can get some good sympy. Also, a Dome show's not the best place to highlight it, but Fish absolutely understands how to work for a Japanese crowd. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a singles run, Fish vs Omega could be a lot of fun.
Frog Man would be rolling in his grave if he could see what Marufuji's done to his promotion. Nerfed the heavyweights even further, packed out the roster with jr's, gaijin and, worst of all, gaijin jr's and booked sports entertainment shit like TLC matches.
Frog Man would be rolling in his grave if he could see what Marufuji's done to his promotion. Nerfed the heavyweights even further, packed out the roster with jr's, gaijin and, worst of all, gaijin jr's and booked sports entertainment shit like TLC matches.
Maybe that's why I like him though. Guy is straight badass and just looks like he goes in there looking to beat the crap out of his opponent.
I really struggle to take Omega as a heel. Just looks off to me.
I think they may be looking to develop Okada's character/gimmick with this loss. He talked the talk and couldn't walk the walk, and Tanahashi's promo called him out on it.
NOAH was hot garbage by the time Misawa passed away though. They'd lost their television deal that March and couldn't make any new stars out of their young talent. The fact Marufuji/Taue have been able to stabilise the promotion and apparently get them to a position where NJPW are willing to help them out, they've done okay. I thought NOAH would be dead by now.
Plus some of the junior additions have been brilliant. Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada were great for years in Osaka Pro, as was Kenou in Michinoku Pro. And "gaijin" like TMDK, pretty good.
Ok....have Nash and Hall and what not given the rub to these Jabroni's running around with the wolfpack and 2 sweet gimmick left and right or is it just blatant rip off?
I mean it is the only thing grating on me.
Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsVdt0yKMMQ
I guess he has
I mean it is the only thing grating on me.
Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsVdt0yKMMQ
I guess he has
Pretty sure they couldn't build new stars was because as soon as one of the young guys faltered, Misawa would hop his chubby ass out and take over again. Or have Jun Akiyama do it for him.
I think Nash mentioned the Bullet Club was cool because they had AJ. AKA he has no idea who those other goons are.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
British Monsoon
Member
Oh, don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy NOAH quite a bit these days (especially the tag scene), but Marufuji's clearly taking it in a direction Misawa wouldn't have at all approved of. He definitely deserves praise for doing what was necessary to get NOAH back on solid ground, even if it did mean diverging from the original persona of the promotion, and for realising how valuable a partnership with New Japan could be.
Oh I have no issue with Bullet Club as an entity, they are a great heel faction and have had great talent flow through. Just the constant mini Wolfpack mannerisms were just driving me crazy.
That was kinda it, I think when Kobashi went down Misawa gave himself the belt as a band-aid for the promotion but that never quite worked. When they finally gave Go Shiozaki the belt that was around the time they lost the TV so he had no chance of really becoming the next Misawa/Kobashi.
And let's not speak of Takeshi Rikio either.
The biggest tragedy of Noah was Misawa had to do what he did for the sake of the promotion. Misawa should of been taking it easy and just doing light work but the guy kept going out with a broken body for everyone else.
Even when the promotion was hot and Kobashi had an amazing title run he was working with knees shot and need to get surgery but again the promotion needed him.
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
Ibushi was the stand out of the show for me. Once he stopped giving a fuck and just started to stomp, punch, and taunt Nakumera he had the most brutal looking offence and became the best character on the card.
These are basically my thoughts. Nakamura/Ibushi was fantastic.
I really hope they can get JR back a few more times. I think if he can get more familiar with the talent it would greatly benefit the broadcast. We aren't going to get 1998 JR calls during his first NJPW show.
It was great story telling.
He was young, and his youth and spending effort mocking may have cost him the match.
The respect from ManGodKing at the end made the entire thing even more awesome.
To me it was the match of the night and will be hard to top through the year though both of the last matches were insane and amazing.
CaptainTiptop
Member
Great lineup of dudes in that first tag match. It was a lot of fun, too.
JR can never ever match up to the NJPW's pbp.
The level of excitement is contagious even if you barely know a few words plus the main moves. It is infectious.
Agreed. Since the first tape I got in the late 90's for me Japanese commentary is amazing. Don't understand it but it just sounds so good with the action.
One thing I do miss is no streamers. I used to love the All Japan shows and all the streamers when the wrestlers name was announced.
What are New Japan going to do with the Jnr Division. Thinking back to the epic division new Japan once had which was stacked with so much Jnr talent and looking at what they have now. Truly night and day.
OverBlood 3
Banned
Is there anyway I can watch this now seeing as I missed it?
The whole show is up on NJPW World. That's how I just watched it. What a fantastic show. Nakamura vs Ibushi was by far my favorite match.
ALL HAIL KING SHINSUKE! YEAOH!
Poor Okada.
Jr. Division is pretty sad without Devitt and Ibushi.
I don't think I ever want to see a multi-man tag match again. Especially with Jrs. or indie guys. It's a collection of spots with no psychology. Barf.
Loved the pop for Honma.
Suzuki vs Sakuraba was fun, but I wish they got more time.
Makabe vs Ishii was good. Just a hard hitting brawl. I do get the feeling that Ishii can only have one kind of match though. I couldn't enjoy part of this match because I wasn't sure if he'd have to be taken to the hospital after getting dropped directly on his head from that German suplex.
Really liked the backdrop for Anderson and Gallows's entrance. Loved the match too. Rare to get a chance to see Shibata smile. He looked legitimately happy.
I like Kenny Omega and I'm glad he has the Jr. belt.
AJ vs Naito was good. Loved the ending. Sad Naito lost.
Nakamura and Ibushi delivered AGAIN. God damn these guys are great. Great story telling in this match. It really started getting nasty at the end.
I don't know if Okada and Tanahashi can put on a bad match together. I've seen them wrestle so many times and they still manage to be entertaining. Loved the match and really sympathized with Okada afterward. I can't believe they didn't give him the ball.
Good event, but left me feeling like I could have skipped the first half or so. Really curious to see what the future holds. Okada and Naito lost, Shinsuke is still IC champ, Goto and Shibata have the tag belts. So who challenges Tanahashi now? AJ again? Regardless, I feel like I got my money's worth out of my NJPW World sub for sure.
Poor Okada.
Jr. Division is pretty sad without Devitt and Ibushi.
I don't think I ever want to see a multi-man tag match again. Especially with Jrs. or indie guys. It's a collection of spots with no psychology. Barf.
Loved the pop for Honma.
Suzuki vs Sakuraba was fun, but I wish they got more time.
Makabe vs Ishii was good. Just a hard hitting brawl. I do get the feeling that Ishii can only have one kind of match though. I couldn't enjoy part of this match because I wasn't sure if he'd have to be taken to the hospital after getting dropped directly on his head from that German suplex.
Really liked the backdrop for Anderson and Gallows's entrance. Loved the match too. Rare to get a chance to see Shibata smile. He looked legitimately happy.
I like Kenny Omega and I'm glad he has the Jr. belt.
AJ vs Naito was good. Loved the ending. Sad Naito lost.
Nakamura and Ibushi delivered AGAIN. God damn these guys are great. Great story telling in this match. It really started getting nasty at the end.
I don't know if Okada and Tanahashi can put on a bad match together. I've seen them wrestle so many times and they still manage to be entertaining. Loved the match and really sympathized with Okada afterward. I can't believe they didn't give him the ball.
Good event, but left me feeling like I could have skipped the first half or so. Really curious to see what the future holds. Okada and Naito lost, Shinsuke is still IC champ, Goto and Shibata have the tag belts. So who challenges Tanahashi now? AJ again? Regardless, I feel like I got my money's worth out of my NJPW World sub for sure.
The Shapesmith
Member
Finished watching the two main events last night and then immediately rewatched Nakamura/ibushi because it was that good! Hoping the next ROH/NJPW super show is in Chicago so I can see these guys live.
Unfortunately 2015 the supershows are in Canada =\
The Shapesmith
Member
Curse you NJPW for listing it as the USA lol. I guess I have time to get a passport and whatnot. I am toying with signing up to njpw world now because I want to go back and watch the G1 Climax now.
Liquidsnake
Banned
I loved that. Hahaha. I want to do that to my boss.
avengers23
Banned
There was a time when I had high hopes for Morishima and Shiozaki.
I finally watched the show in bits and pieces on NJPW World yesterday. The show was good, but it lacked some of the spectacle from past Wrestle Kingdoms. The lack of a resume function is the only thing I could criticize NJPW World for at this time.
Bobby Fish has impressed me every time I've seen him.
It's no surprise that Adam Cole was the breakout star from the Cole/O'Reilly tag team.
I would say that Makabe makes a fine transitional champion, but I have no idea to whom they could transition the NEVER title.
I didn't have the context to really understand the significance of the Suzuki/Sakuraba match. But it told a great story within the match, so it did its job.
Makabe's suplex onto Ishii's shoulder and diving knee onto the shoulder were nice touches.
I'm not sold on Omega as a heel yet.
And that's the issue. Without knowing what happened on the 1/5 show, I'm not sure what happens to the undercard. Who faces Makabe, Omega, reDRagon, or Bash Bros. next? Some unpredictability is good, but not in the face of fairly shallow undercard roster, especially in the junior heavyweight division.
This was my first time watching Japanese wrestling and after years of hating wrestling I think I am back. This card was fun all the way through. I am in love with Shinsuke Nakamura he was unlike anything I have seen in pro wrestling.
My only complaints are I wish they would have translated the video packages and promos. I don't like the chemistry between Striker and JR. The last complaint I have is the bullet Club. I think with a few small tweaks they could be an amazing stable. Instead of stolen gestures and saying they could easily make there own. Keep them gun related. Something like guns up ( put there hands in the air making a gun) instead of using too sweet. They could easily come up with some stuff and make it work.
My only complaints are I wish they would have translated the video packages and promos. I don't like the chemistry between Striker and JR. The last complaint I have is the bullet Club. I think with a few small tweaks they could be an amazing stable. Instead of stolen gestures and saying they could easily make there own. Keep them gun related. Something like guns up ( put there hands in the air making a gun) instead of using too sweet. They could easily come up with some stuff and make it work.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
Just finished watching NYD. Some angle advancement...
- Liger retained the NWA Jr. Belt against El Despy, and as thanks to Tiger Mask for getting Taka and Taichi out of the way, he offered to give him a title match
- Suzuki-gun won a 10-man tag, and afterwards called out Marufuji and TMDK. Looks like we might be getting Suzuki vs. Marufuji for the GHC title and TMDK vs. KES for the NWA tag titles.
- Taguchi challenged Omega to a Jr. Heavyweight title rematch
- Bad Luck Fale beat Okada in a tag match, and afterwards challenged him to a singles match.
- Nakamura was challenged by Yuji Nagata for the IC title
- AJ Styles, as expected, challenged Tanahashi for the IWGP title after beating him with the Styles Clash in the main event 8-man.
- The Bullet Club introduced their newest member...sort of. Their "Young Boy", Cody Hall (Yep, Scott's son). He's not a full member yet and will be playing the role of the Bullet Club's ring boy like Tanaka and Komatsu do for the main NJPW guys.
Oh yeah, and Ishii is still saying "fuck time off" as he was in a six-man tag.
- Liger retained the NWA Jr. Belt against El Despy, and as thanks to Tiger Mask for getting Taka and Taichi out of the way, he offered to give him a title match
- Suzuki-gun won a 10-man tag, and afterwards called out Marufuji and TMDK. Looks like we might be getting Suzuki vs. Marufuji for the GHC title and TMDK vs. KES for the NWA tag titles.
- Taguchi challenged Omega to a Jr. Heavyweight title rematch
- Bad Luck Fale beat Okada in a tag match, and afterwards challenged him to a singles match.
- Nakamura was challenged by Yuji Nagata for the IC title
- AJ Styles, as expected, challenged Tanahashi for the IWGP title after beating him with the Styles Clash in the main event 8-man.
- The Bullet Club introduced their newest member...sort of. Their "Young Boy", Cody Hall (Yep, Scott's son). He's not a full member yet and will be playing the role of the Bullet Club's ring boy like Tanaka and Komatsu do for the main NJPW guys.
Oh yeah, and Ishii is still saying "fuck time off" as he was in a six-man tag.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
KES, Killer Elite Squad, aka Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr., members of Suzuki-gun.
And yes, these NWA titles are the legit titles recognized by the legit NWA despite it being a shell of a shell of a shell of its former self. The name still holds some reverence in Japan due to it being the world title held by the legendary father of puroresu Rikidozan, who battled Lou Thesz and Karl Gotch for the gold throughout the 50s and 60s. The current NWA chairman BRUCE THARPE DES~ (who is ridiculously entertaining and doubles as manager for the NWA wrestlers) worked out a deal to have the NWA showcased in NJPW, which has included matches for the NWA world title (Which Rob Conway lost to Satoshi Kojima at WK8, Kojima has since lost it back to Conway), the NWA tag titles, and recently the NWA Jr. title as well.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Killer Elite Squad, Vance Archer/Hoyt and Davey Boy Smith Jr, both ex-WWE. They're a part of Suzuki-gun, Minoru Suzuki's stable.
NWA title are recognized.
NihonTiger90
Member
i love how casually he just slaps his face.
Frustrated_Grunt
Member
I wanted to watch a replay of this. Is it up on the njpw world site if I want to watch it now? Or do I have to wait?
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