AdamTH17 Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 First New Beginning show from Sapporo just wrapped up, some thoughts: Kitamura losing wasn't any surprise, but I was surprised with how much Elgin gave him in the match, letting him kick out of more than I would have expected. Elgin might be a shitty human being, but he's a really good worker. Suzuki-Gun vs Liger and Friends was a match, it happened, KUSHIDA tapped out Taka. Ishii being bungled into these undercard tag matches won't ever make sense to me, but at least in Yano he's got a partner who he has actual chemistry with. At least he got to look strong. I can see him being a contender for the NJC, nobody else really makes that much sense at the moment in that it would be too big a match for Sakura (think Omega, Naito, Tanahashi etc) so Ishii filling that gap before a bigger match at Dominion sounds feasible enough in my head. NEVER 6-Man being defended was a surprise. I'm so over Makabe by this point, just find him to shit up every match he's in at the moment. Henare looks like he could be promising with a bit more fleshing out. Enjoyed his exchanges with Fale. David Finlay is a real sight isn't he? The complete personification of "skinnyfat". It feels like this years batch of young lions such as Kawato and Kitamura have already surpassed the guy, let alone guys who he came up with like Switchblade and SHO/YOH. He needs something to change him up, sharpish because he's going absolutely nowhere at this rate. It's a shame, because he's a solid enough worker who could probably still improve a lot, but there's nothing to him at the moment. Bullet Club tag matches featuring Scurll/Cody do nothing for me. If you've seen one, you've seen them all - except it wasn't ever entertaining the first time around. I understand there's a market for their shtick, but it's not for me. Hangman just randomly flipping every other move is weird. All I could think during this match is how it's a shame Ibushi is saddled down by this. Solidly enough worked, but the entire finishing stretch was really sloppy. YOSHI-HASHI coming out to Ospreay's music was funny. The match was a lot of fun when they decided to up the pace a bit, though I can't complain at them going through the motions for some aspects. Hiromu really is the man, him and Ospreay facing off in singles should have been the Wrestle Kingdom match and I think their upcoming match will go some way in proving that point. Naito completely no-selling and shrugging off Yoshi's post match attack was fucking hilarious. SANADA has a new mask! Thank fuck. He looks like a star, even if he isn't quite one yet in the grand scheme of things. Okada keeping his pants means this match is already the best of the night. Nice build for the Okada/SANADA title match with some good sequences, crowd seem quite invested in that match. The post-match with Okada heeling things up a bit was interesting, maybe NJPW testing the waters to see how much of a face reaction SANADA gets? It's probably coming sooner or later so seems smart they'd test how over he can get working as a face against Okada. The contrast of 3K teaming with Switchblade was...a thing? I think Jay White is going to be just fine in Japan. Despite his average as hell match at the Dome, he's got a good look, works well and the crowd seem to be reacting to him. Working with Omega tomorrow is only going to help him out as well. Bucks are far more tolerable when they're working in Japan so this was a good match. I think Suzuki was a great opponent for Tanahashi. Allowed a lot of ground work and a slower, more methodical pace which probably suited Tanahashi, given how he's now stuck together by bits of string and twig. Really good match, lots of great storytelling. I would have liked more of this in the Wrestle Kingdom match between Tana/White, more work about targeting the knee and wearing it down to make the heel look like a real sadistic guy. Tanahashi not knowing his own limitations, Suzuki being a mean bastard, a really invested crowd, no Suzuki-Gun interference! I liked this one a lot. Not everyone is going to be a fan of the looooong submission stretches, but yeah, top stuff. Hopefully Tanahashi takes a well deserved break now before coming back to challenge Okada at Dominion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Suzuki/Tanahashi really was fabulous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 27, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 27, 2018 A lot of filler this morning but it was enjoyable. Chase Owens is dreadful. LIJ lads all looked good today, Naito's contempt for Yoshi-Hashi was amazing and I really enjoyed his exchanges with Ospreay. I thought Tana looked badly in need of a break as he was walking down the aisle, never mind the match. Act 2 was great, MiSu is a cunt. There's a good rub for someone on the way up beating him, eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 I’m not having everyone saying Okada has the best drop kick in the game when we’re getting this from a 50 year old Suzuki  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 27, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 27, 2018 Standing vs running. Apples and oranges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted January 27, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 27, 2018 Tanahashi's selling is the best. This match reminded me of the time one legged Shawn Michaels was voted into a title match with Triple H. Suzuki is having quite the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 I have been really surprised how quickly I have taken to new Japan. The characters are so unique it’s easy to tell in how they wrestle who’s to get behind, and who’s to be hated. Even the really talented ones know to be dickish so you still dislike them. As a massive fan of 97 wwf the factions work for me and make sense, a card of 6 man tags gets everyone on the shows , but keeps people fresh/ not over exposed so you will want to watch Their singles stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWOLeN Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 What's best practice on how to watch NJPW on your TV? Are there any apps that help you do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iPumaPants Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 47 minutes ago, LWOLeN said: What's best practice on how to watch NJPW on your TV? Are there any apps that help you do that? Firestick has an app. Otherwise, Chromecast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Great little ending to Night two, surprised Jay White got the win but that now leads us to Golden Lovers Vs Cody and Hangman. I take it Cody is the new Bullet Club leader now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 The Tongans where indicating in their post show interviews last night that they will be getting involved in who’s running BC as have sat back so long, so don’t think it’s that cut and dried yet. I feel a swerve coming  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamTH17 Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) Everything else before the main event angle from today's show: 4/10. Main event angle: 10/10.  White/Omega was a good enough match. Not in the same ballpark as Suzuki/Tanahashi from yesterday but still worked well enough. Smart enough decision to put the belt on Switchblade, he could use the rub far better than Omega, and they Kenny will draw in America/Japan regardless of if he's carrying the belt or not. Smart booking really. Have Omega be the face of your brand extension into the USA, have him reach the point where he doesn't need the belt to be massive and then have him put over a new talent clean. Wasn't huge on the lame Bullet Club shenanigans somewhat overshadowing what should have been a moment solely focused on Jay. I wouldn't bat an eyelid if the entire lot of them except Omega, Fale, and The Bucks fucked off the face of the planet, but the Ibushi stuff made up for it for me. Spices things up in New Japan nicely. I wonder if they have the eventual Cody/Kenny match at the USA show, or if they can hold off until their All In show later this year. Edited January 28, 2018 by AdamTH17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWOLeN Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) Cody/Kenny is slowly building. Great stuff. Reminds me of Hogan/Macho in the nWo days. Â Edited January 28, 2018 by LWOLeN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 28, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted January 28, 2018 As much as I love Kenny & Kota doing Liz & Randy, I'm still miffed that Jay went over. I'm not ready to believe he's good enough to beat a guy like Omega. They built a good match but... yeah, I'm not ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Should the app work? I downloaded it from the apple store and there’s no option for English, and nothing seems clickable. Odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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