Awesome, thanks. That May 3rd show is a very real possibility if I can get tickets. Was planning on going to Korea for a few days then but I might make a detour.
Can one of you fine people give me a tldr synopsis of my boy SUZUKI? The way people talk about him and are getting hyped that I'm seeing makes me think it's kind of like when Brock returned? I loved his interview with all of suzukigun (i hope i did that right?) stating he was back and they're gonna take all the title. Just pure bad ass.
Very brief synopsis: He was one of two founders of Pancrase, an MMA promotion that have slight differing rules to that of UFC (the main being no punches to head, only palm strikes). He's a very legit fighter at 29-19. One of the last of his kind, really.
It's kind of like when Brock returned I suppose. He's a former triple crown champion in AJPW and he held the GHC (NOAH championship) title for 6 months in 2015 that was a storyline of Suzuki-gun (his stable) invading NOAH. He lost a title match in December 2016 that ended that story line and he came back to NJPW to now challenge Okada. He's never held the IWGP belt.
He has incredible charisma. The first time I saw him on Day 1 of the 2011 G-1, I became a fan. He's an elite heel and he's believable as a no nonsense kick ass heel because of his background and that ****ing haircut. He had a 5* match and Observer MotY with Tanahashi in October of 2014. He had the Observer MotY in 2015 with AJ during the G-1 (****3/4). Both are required viewing.
Also, his finisher is not to be ****ed with:
He knows how to treat ring boys:
edit: I forget who but one of the new NXT guys I'd never seen before the special this past weekend clearly has some influence (and moves) from MiSu.
edit 2: the last time he challenged Okada for the belt (in 2013), he legit choked him unconscious with that finisher.
edit 3: finally, lots of people call his theme the best in wrestling
This sentence sums him up very nicely. "In this exclusive one to one interview, Suzuki shows his true, chilling character. From disturbing silence to outright hostility, it's a revealing and intense conversation."
I had a blast reading it. Revealing and intense, indeed.
^^ The very same. He, too, is in Suzuki-Gun. Also, Davey Boy Smith's son, David Hart Smith, is in it as well. Shelton Benjamin used to be in it, also, but he left like last year I think and then the speculations that he will return to Smackdown which got derailed due to him not passing a physical or getting a injury or something like that.
I messed up in the years of the matches I recommended. Match vs Tanahashi is 2013, match vs. AJ is 2014.
The Tanahashi/Suzuki matches were in 2012. One at WK 6 (which I still got to check out), and one in October 2012 (the one that was given five-stars by Meltzer, NJPW's first five-star match in like 15 years, I believe, and rated match of the year from the WON awards).
The October one was really good. It went 30 minutes but everything about it was compelling and never dragged one bit.
I do at least remember the WK match which iirc, was a huge disappointment to me because it was some of the most obvious booking ever. Tanahashi tied Nagata's defense record in December 2011 by defeating Nagata and it was too easy to see Tanahashi going over at the Dome. Though, tbh, there weren't any challengers left after he beat Goto in June, Shinskay in September and Naito in October (all three stellar matches as is the Nagata match).
Tanahashi/Suzuki is also special for a big reason in its 5* rating. Jim, don't read until after you watch match unless you want a decently big spoiler and a huge reason lots of people love it:
Spoiler:
The only 5* match with only one cover and ofc that being the finish. That's incredible booking. Going 25-30 minutes and no covers.
watched the match with aj and loved it. holding on for dear life against the styles clash and reversing it into an ankle lock was so great, and the entire sequence after was even better <3. Like trying to roll through for another ankle lock and getting sidestepped about put in a cross arm breaker.
Yes! MiSu vs AJ is the ****! I haven't seen in a while. I'll probably check it out sometime today now that you mention it. I do remember how hot that crowd was (for a heel vs heel match no less). How great MiSu trying to rip AJ's fingers off was.
Thoughts on Dragon Gate? I've watched maybe 3 matches in my life and know barely anything about it. There's a show in Tokyo the same time I'm there and wondering if it's worth spending the money/time. Tickets for everything wrestling related in Japan is pretty pricey.
DG Japan has a pretty good rep and seems to be doing things well lately. They had quite a few shows last year that had some noise to them afterward as well as quite a few MotYC's. I'd go watch if I could. DG may be one of those promotions where seeing it live is 100x better than seeing it on tv because of how fast paced it is.
They've done a good job keeping the top guys there as well. People like Cima, Mochizuki or however it's spelled, Yamato, BxB Hulk, Shingo and others. Those guys are top workers and always on the cards.