New Japan iPPV thread

[ultimo the great]

Day 3 (no spoilers)

 

An ok show you get a feeling most were taking it easy. Short matches, i haven't checked but i'd guess nothing went over 15 minutes.

 

Tomoaki Honma vs. Doc Gallows Nothing much to it, it was fine but skippable.
Lance Archer vs. Karl Anderson: Ok, they did well to get the crowd onside. Enjoyable enough but again skippable
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi: Decent but again not crying out for your attention. Probably going to say this every Tenzan match but he's looking good and he's had a good tournament.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shelton Benjamin: Good, both worked well and it's nice to see Benjamin's brought his working boots this year.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano None more Yano really. cheats and cheats and Naito trys to get the better of him. enjoyable enough but nothing you have to see
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. Enjoyed this quite a bit once it got going, shame the finish came out of nowhere.
Yuji Nagata vs. Bad Luck Fale a Fale match, slow, lumbering and in the end you don't give a damn. Worst on the show. Not terrible just meh
Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki: Fine not much more than
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima Match of the night. Not a MOTYC or anything but it's a match you should watch.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe Good end to the show, second best match of the day.

 

Reading that back and it sounds like a bad show but it isn't. i enjoyed most of it just not a show you have to see all of.

 

Day 4 has Ishii/Honma and Tanahashi/Shibata....................:OverExcitedSmiley:

[Merzbow]

Ishii/Honma is pretty damn special, I'm only really getting back into NJPW since the start of this year but if I see more like that it'll be my number one fed.

[ultimo the great]

Ishii/Honma is pretty damn special, I'm only really getting back into NJPW since the start of this year but if I see more like that it'll be my number one fed.

 

They had an even better match in May

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1u0bta_tomohiro-ishii-c-vs-tomoaki-honma-never-openweight-title-match-5-3-14_sport

 

Not sure why the video won't appear in the post

 

 

Day 4 (no spoilers)

 

Apart from Yano/Goto not a bad match on the show. Good good show, a contender for best day of the tournament so far. Again plenty of short matches, two just over the 15 minute mark. On an odd note sweaty as all hell, sweat everywhere, crowd with handfans, even the air looks salty.....

 

Satoshi Kojima vs. Bad Luck Fale decent but skippable

Shelton Benjamin vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. as above

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Minoru Suzuki: started very slow like two guys going through the motions but got better as it went on. Tenzanwatch: great effort from him but he looked ready for a rest. not essential but decent.

Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano skippable

Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii: Match of the night and one of the best of the tournament. not quite as good as their match in May but damn good.

Togi Makabe vs. Lance Archer enjoyable effort from both. Archer's growing on me, showed major charisma throughtout. Looked like they went to the finish early

Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: Slow pace, plenty stiff. good match with both looking super tired, every move took a lot out of them. sweat everywhere.

Tetsuya Naito vs. AJ Styles Solid to good. had plenty of good moments but didn't really grab me.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson worked very well together. another good match

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata: Good match with some big moments. Tanahashi's going to have bruises on his face tomorrow. Shibata's corner dropkick and spinning chop looked STIFF AS HELL. one day their going to have a great great match.

 

Nakamura/Honma and Naito/Okada stick out from Day 5.

 

 

 

 

Incredible to see Benjamin on maximum points but he still has to face Shibata, Nakamura, Kojima and Tanahashi so i don't see him making the finals.

 

With the finals being in such a big venue i'm still seeing the big three making the finals, Tanahashi & Nakamura from group A and Okada from B..One of Naito, Goto or Makabe to make it too. Then i start to think they surely have to have the IWGP champ in a big match.........

 

Block A:

Benjamin [8]

Tanahashi [6]

Fale [4]

Kojima [4]

Shibata [4]

Nakamura [4]

Ishii [4]

Smith Jr. [2]

Gallows [2]

Nagata [2]

Honma [0]

 

Block B:

Okada [6]

Goto [6]

Naito [6]

Tenzan [4]

Yano [4]

Makabe [4]

Archer [2]

Styles [2]

Yujiro [2]

Suzuki [2]

Anderson [2]

 

[Merzbow]

I prefer the day 4 match, only by like the tiniest amount but i'll probably watch both of them again soon and opinion could change.

 

I've only caught Nakamura/Honma so far from day 5 but it's a corker, keep hearing people say it's the best match so far and I'd have it pretty close. I just wonder what another Nakamura/Ibushi match would have been like if he wasn't injured, their match from last year was near perfect (been catching up on last years best matches).

[AshC]

Loved Ishii vs Honma, but can't help but wince at all the missed diving headbutts in this age of concussion awareness. 

 

I think Naito has really come across as a star in some of these matches. Be interesting to see if he gets another shot at headlining.

 

Gallows vs Ishii was tremendous until my computer decided to stop working. Will start playing catch-up from there when I get the chance.

[fugaziuk]

We had Doc Gallows on our podcast last week discussing the G1, Bullet Club and being in NJPW. If you guys want to check it out here: pwn.podomatic.com

[ultimo the great]

Day 5 (no spoilers)

 

Ok this is getting repetitive BUT another good show, no bad matches. It took awhile for the crowd to heat up but Shibata/Benjamin onwards they were all over everything.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Doc Gallows Decent to fine, had its moments
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Lance Archer Decent again, nothing you have to see
Satoshi Kojima vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. Good, tempted to say Smith's best of the tournament, Kojima's been consistently good throughout. They work very well together
Minoru Suzuki vs. Yujiro Takahashi Hugely enjoyable if you like seeing Yujiro get slapped around. i do.
Toru Yano vs. Karl Anderson very well done comedy match. Anderson's pisstaking of Yano is priceless.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shelton Benjamin took awhile to get going but damn good by the end
Hirooki Goto vs. AJ Styles Good match. Crowd really into it by the end.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale Excellent performance from Tanahashi in a solid match.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomoaki Honma One or two problems aside, contender for match of the night, not a MOTYC but some great sequences, believable nearfalls and the crowd eating it all up
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito Another MOTN contender. Always been on the side of people saying their matches are overrated but this was a great end to the show.

 

On a match per match basis for me its a better tournament than last year but last years best matches are smoking this years..

 

 

Looks like Makabe's out of the tournament with a jaw problem. not a huge surprise he's looked in pain thoughout.

Also a rumour Tanahashi's out with a neck problem. Really really hoping he isn't, Ishii/Tanahashi main event Day 6 and was my MOTY last year

 

Shibata and Naito have huge momentum at the moment, New Japan have a real chance to make one of them sadly i still think the winner will be Nakamura or Okada. Which isn't a terrible move, have the winner beat Styles and then face each other at WK9.

 

Also post match comments from Anderson

 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

AJ's been good ain't he? He should cut that hair to get the stench of that shithole completely off him but I've liked all of his matches. They've all had a different feel, the Naito bloodbath and the Yano match are among the best so far. I'm not keen on half the roster but they've knocked it out the park the last couple of days, no doubt.

[AshC]

Enjoyed Tanahashi vs Fale a lot. Yano's antics have been a highlight of the tournament, and am a big fan of Anderson; he's proving to be a really versatile talent. While it's a real shame that Ibushi couldn't compete, Honma has been a blast as his replacement.

[fugaziuk]

Bad luck fale will be on our show this weekend talking the G1 and bullet club. It will be available here: pwn.podomatic.com or https://iTunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/pro-wrestling-now/id899517379 on Monday morning

[ultimo the great]

Day 6 (No spoilers)

 

After 2 days back to back it seems a dogs age since i watched this, i think it was yesterday . Makabe's still in (cheers big dave) and Tanahashi was also fine so good-good. Underwhelming day overall

 

Doc Gallows vs. Bad Luck Fale: Worst match of the whole tournament. i live tweet as i watch (no idea why) and described it as this generations Giant Silva vs Giant Singh. It's not as bad as that but it is rubbish.
Yuji Nagata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr: ok nothing more. skippable
Togi Makabe vs. Yujiro Takahashi: passable, decent at best. Makabe looked in serious pain throughout
Satoshi Kojima vs. Katsuyori Shibata Good, real good towards the end both looked exhausted.
Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson: Fine match, great finishing sequence
Minoru Suzuki vs. Lance Archer It happened, skippable
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Shelton Benjamin: decent. expected more they've clicked in the past.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. AJ Styles: you wouldn't expect them to click but this ended up being pretty good. Tenzan's the surprise of the tournament
Kazuchika Okada vs. Toru Yano: ok, not essential
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii as you'd expect the best match of Day 6, not up to last years incredible match and the ending wasn't great but still very good.

 

=====

 

Day 7 (No spoilers)

 

Just finished watching it around half an hour ago and right now i'd say it's the best show of the tournament so far. From match 5 when the crowd go INSANE for Tenzan just a great show.

 

Satoshi Kojima vs. Shelton Benjamin: Had it's moments decent to good
Toru Yano vs. Lance Archer Fun match, i'll be honest and say listening to Liger enjoying every minute of it on commentary helped.
Yujiro Takahashi vs. Karl Anderson: ok
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Doc Gallows Worst match of the show, not sure who grew bored quicker me or the crowd. they were getting the polite applause towards the end.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hirooki Goto MUST WATCH. it's a good good match but the crowd make it a must watch. Tenzan's so over it's crazy.
Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale All about Honma, another good match.
Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito this will get lost amongst better matches from the show but it's damn good. Makabe's best of the G1 so far.
AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki a match that should suck, a match that shouldn't work but a match where contrasting styles meet and somehow just click. Match of the night.
Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuyori Shibata Really good again, just an absolute battle.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii fails to live up to the last two but another (have i said really good or great enough during the G1 yet?) good match with some great moments to end an epic show.

 

Meltzer's going to go so over the top with this show it might just finish him off. i mean sexually and then death.

 

Very happy to have two days of rest.

 

 

edit: my buzz word for the tournament seems to be Click

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I've watched bits and bobs of this tournament. AJ Styles is killing it. Absolutely fantastic in every match I've seen him in. I've never seen him this good. The match with Suzuki was incredible. AJ's selling was perfect throughout. He's in the form of his life.

[The King Of Swing]

Just popped in to praise the Styles/Suzuki match. An absolute blinder and dammit I almost believed that Suzuki really wanted to rip his arm off.

 

Styles is definitely a contender for MVP of the tournament.

 

I actually enjoyed Smith Vs. Gallows. Decent powerhouse match IMO.

[Merzbow]

Watch Smith vs Ishii if you likes the Gallows match, probably the best match I've ever seen Smith have. It's a great start to day 8 which just gets even better and AJ gets a sweet match out of Archer.

[The King Of Swing]

Nice. Can't wait to get started on day 8 and I am determined to make it through the entire tournament this year.