Yeah Nagata/Ishii slugfests are always fun. Ishii was a youngin when Nagata took a liking to clobbering him. Kinda how Ishii earned his stripes.

Well, decided to sign up to Sling TV and get a 7 Day trial to watch AXS TV so that I can watch the NJPW US shows live. So far so good in video quality. I would consider actually subscribing to the Sling TV service, but I don't watch any TV nowadays, and I don't want to spend $20+ for the one channel I do like (which is AXS TV).

Finished watching the show.

Decided to play poker over watching NJPW's first US show...well outside of the disaster shows in 2011. Just watched the opening and the first match. I almost skipped the first match since it's a random 10-man tag but I wanted to see the atmosphere. So glad I didn't skip it. A great and entertaining match. Kind of a deflating finish but RPG ftw!! ***1/2 for that. That's it for tonight though. Hopefully won't get spoiled before I finish. I'd also totally forgot that Tanahashi's facing Billy ****ing Gunn. I kind of want to skip it but Tana's a GOD so hopefully it's passable. I was expecting an atmosphere more like PWG and I'm so very happy that it isn't at all like that.

/random thoughts

I haven't watched it yet although I did get most of it spoiled on twitter, will still check it out.

I did watch this for first time last night though.



GG WWE women's division even though their moveset will no doubt be severely gimped.

LOL ROH

Kenny Omaga wins the booby prize.

Just some thoughts:
LIJ vs. Liger & Co. - Where the **** is KUSHIDA?!?!? Volador needs trunks that ****ing fit. Put some clothes on ffs. Dat pop for Liger! Hiromu, EVIL, and Sanada look like such stars. Pretty meh match. **1/4 for that effort.

Hangman Page vs. Jay Lethal - hopefully this is really good because even though this is for the US belt, I don't care about these guys. Jay Lethal has the moveset of Chris Hero or, he just does elbows, knees, and kicks. That clothesline by Page my god. I think we found a very good example of why Lethal's finisher sucks. Lethal's worse than Rollings at selling. Match: *. Actively bad. The problem with these guys is they're trying to do a bunch of Jr. Heavyweight spots and they're too slow to do them which leads to one either being out of position or one having to wait for something to happen when it makes no sense. I really tried to enjoy this. I swear. It was just bad.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Juice Robinson - looking forward to this match. I've never seen Juice in a singles match but have heard he's torn it up this year. Have only seen Zack once (CW open) and want to see more. Zack has some fun moves and I love limb working matches but my god, I can't take this guy seriously as a heavyweight. Zack selling a straight punch like Tomohiro Ishii aka god like. Great ****ing finish...savage. The finish was actually very reminiscent of KUSHIDA/Hiromu at Dominion. ***1/4. Now I really want to see Zack vs. KUSHIDA.

KUSHIDA (!!!! )/GOD/2 others vs. Bullet Club - Billy Gunn. He looks like Hardcore Holly. KUSHIDA getting chants :mark: :mark:. KUSHIDA and Tanahashi on the same team :mark: :mark:. My god, KUSHIDA imitates Rick Rude and mocks DX, so ****ing good. I'm waiting for JR to call Billy one of the top athletes in NJPW. And Jesus tags God. Tana with two uncharactoristic botches of moves he's been using for years in every match. Match was decent but nothing special: ***

I will confess to being a huge mark for KUSHIDA and Tanahashi. Them and Braun are probably my three favorites atm. Small, medium, and large imo. Really enjoying show atm but bed time for me.

Cool looking belt but idk if it makes sense to stick it on omega really

War Machine vs. G.O.D. - Two more guys that I really want to like, War Machine. I love me some good monsters. A couple spots where I thought the match should've been over but the guy kicked out (as opposed to partner breaking up) really just took me out of the match. Not bad but not good either, **1/4. A shame that the IWGP Heavyweight tag division hasn't been any good since 2011 when Bad Intentions were around.

Naito vs. Ishii - this gun b good! Already a good start with "Red Shoes" as the referee. Naito needs some gold with him. He just doesn't look right without a belt. Oh my god. I'm dying with the Naito/Red Shoes interaction. Red Shoes being Earl Hebner pushing back against Austin/HHH (not literally!). Incredible. That opening pose by Naito after attacking Ishii...jfc. This match is nearing 5* before Ishii gets in the ring! Naito is Flair. After the top rope Frakensteiner atm...I'm convinced this should've main evented over Okada/Cody. Ishii pinned Naito. My god. I never thought Ishii would win this match even though I didn't think Naito should kick out of the brain buster. Great match, Naito's big botch notwithstanding: ****1/4. How is Ishii such a great worker when he only does kick, chop, headbutt, clothesline, brainbuster. Naito is so good. He's eclipsed Okada in my favorites of NJPW. 1. Tana, 2. KUSHIDA, 3. Naito. Someone give this man an IWGP World title at the Dome!

Omega vs. Elgin - More gold from Red Shoes. Even gets a small chant of "Red Shoes" . How can you have anyone at all ever kick out of that top rope powerbomb? Awful spot. Just don't do it. omg then kicking out of that clothesline. That clothesline had me literally scream at 3 in the morning ffs. Kenny does 3 V-Triggers and a reverse Frankensteiner within a minute of that clothesline which was a minute after that powerbomb. I don't like. Omega gets the pin within 4 minutes of taking that clothesline. ***1/2. I guess I see why Naito lost. Can't be giving away Omega vs. Naito in a tournament on a special show............

Cody "3 Star General" Rhodes vs. Kazuchika Okada - Well, here we are. Main event time with Cody in an NJPW ring. Hell has frozen over. Please don't suck. Okada with a bigger pop than Omega. That's...odd. I wasn't looking forward to this match at all but as Okada comes out and does his thing, I'm so happy to be watching. Another God and only 29 years old. Best part of the match was Omega doing his best Owen Hart to get Cody's wife to throw in the towel. ***.

Great event. Glad I watched and I'll be watching the second one here and there starting tomorrow.

Not to go unremarked upon, listening to real wrestling commentary with Jim Ross is awesome. Such an improvement over the constant shilling and childish bickering of Cole, JBL, and company. I'm still in shock that Okada was the most over guy on the show. Again, Naito vs. Ishii should've main evented.

Last note: Does anyone want an Omega vs. Cody match, let alone feud?

Hell no.

I mean if Omega/Cody took place in ROH, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for ROH. They need some marque feuds with some well-known names to keep themselves afloating.

If it took place in NJPW, f' no. Omega can be doing much bigger and better things in NJPW, and draw for them in the process, and Cody is just not compelling in the NJPW environment to warrant having a big feud there.

I saw someone say this comment as a troll on WF but it's probably true:

I finally watched the second show and mostly unspoiled. I just figured Kenny would win since he was trending on Twitter shortly after the show was over. The match between Ishii and Omega was exciting as all hell. I'm glad that Cody didn't get involved during it. Ishii hitting the OWA was one of the best things I've ever seen.

imo

Someone was trying to predict who would win the G-1 and someone flippantly said "Gedo's gonna have Okada win one as champ one day". I don't think I'd mind that much this year. He's been champion for over a year now, granted only 7 title defenses, but his matches have been outstanding. I'd give him the G-1 win and then have him successfully defend the belt at Destruction (September), King of Pro Wrestling (October), and have him defend during the World Tag League event in December. This would give him 10 successful defenses which is one less than the record set in 2011/2012 by Tanahashi. Then have him lose to Naito or Kenny at the Dome.

Yeah, the thing I've noticed more and more over the last year is the huge divide on pro/anti wwe stuff. I'm unsure if it was always like this and I never noticed or if it's gotten stronger lately. Like, I'm convinced that if Omega/Okada II took place at the Royal Rumble half the people praising it as SIX STARS would say things like "finisher spamfest", "lolOkadaWins", or like you said "booking is terrible they are misusing Omega". I'm also convinced that if Cena/AJ at the rumble took place in Tokyo, it'd be given 5 stars and we'd be focusing on how they were able to do what they did without ever leaving the ring and how it was a textbook example of top notch ring psychology.

I also think that the reverse is true too just with a different group of people. For instance, I think if the exact same Cody was in WWE right now people would be praising him and saying how he's deserved this stuff/finally being utilized properly instead of talking about being afraid of the company pulling the trigger on him like they were before the LA shows.

It's one of the reasons I love posting about it here. I feel like we get a pretty wide array of viewpoints and people aren't as dug in on pro/anti wwe or indies. We just wanna see good wrestling.

The g1 shows were great. Ishii biting the ropes before the table spot was insane and it was one of the coolest little story things I've seen in a while. I've been on the "Naito is current GOAT" train since WK, but Okada and Omega are also just absolutely crushing everyone. It's a great time to be a fan. Watching Omega do the V Trigger and then watching Seth do the Kingslayer just shows how new Seth is to doing it. Kenny's look incredible and devastating while Seth's just look mediocre.

As for G1, I'm hoping they run with Okada winning and challenging Kenny for their blowoff. I feel that's just a story with an unfinished ending after their draw (I have to imagine they draw at G1 as well). I think a decisive win for Okada would be perfect before he eventually drops it to Naito. But the one thing I know for sure with NJPW is they'll do something that makes sense one way or another. I trust them to make it great no matter where they go.

Curious what thoughts were on JR's commentary at the G1 shows. I love his commentary of course, but I felt like he was rather unprepared. Understandable given his recent dealings, but he kept getting move names wrong. Hope to see him back at top form next time.

wrt JR: I love Good Ole JR but whenever he talks, I feel like it's what a commentator in WWE 17 would say. I don't know whether to take that like it's good or bad. I'm leaning toward good because it's better than Cole, JR, et al.. It's also nice to have references to other companies or wrestlers and not pretending that you live in your own universe (pun is intended!). I couldn't believe on Night 2 he said "and I can do that because I have the house to myself now" or something to that effect. JR did a Jim Barnett impression in the opening seconds of the 10-man tag on night 2. That made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

I meant to mention that. Also in the match vs. Sabre Jr., Ishii was selling and grabbing his arm in between forearm strikes late in the match when they were trading them. The subtle things he can do to promote realism is just awesome.

wrt upcoming G1: It's kind of funny that when Naito won it in 2013, that was the weakest winner I've seen booking/momentum wise since I started watching in 2011. Now, he'd probably be the strongest winner aside from maybe Okada in 2012 who had just dropped the belt back to Tanahashi a month before the G-1 started. Anyways, I have that confidence in Gedo. He made Omega a superstar last year in the G-1. Same with Naito in his finals defeat in 2011. I think the biggest blunder he could manage in this G-1 is giving Omega or Okada a victory in their match.

*shiver*. I guess on the bright side is I don't regard the second Omega/Okada match as particularly great. There were great moments like the german suplex tease, Kenny collapsing for the Rainmaker, or Okada getting his leg on the rope but things like 10 dropkicks from Okada or 36 V-Triggers from Omega had me just saying "ehhhhhh". Also, I think it was you who said it felt like a waste of 60 minutes because there was no winner and I was unexpectedly disappointed when it ended even though I predicted a draw.



In a comment unrelated to your post, a PWG spoiler from last night. idk if anyone here watches PWG but if you don't, you should:

Watched Omega-Ishii tonight. It's better than Okada-Omega II. Man I loved it.

I do not personally think Okada has been killing it this year, Okada-Omega I notwithstanding (I thought Okada-Omega II was good but not great). I mean he's still good, but he's been a touch stale for my tastes against anyone other than Omega.

Right now I have it Naito > Omega > Okada, with guys like Tanahashi and Ishii obviously capable of being as great as anyone on any given night.

Coming to Hot Topic in August:


New Japan logo

JR on SCSA's podcast:

Those are some very interesting comments considering JR is very close to playing both sides for a paycheck.

Bolded is the most interesting. If that's not wrt the underlined, I just don't know what to say. His obsession with people going to the 'E to become "superstars" is out of this world. Kenny's already a superstar. He's been the most talked about wrestler of 2017.

Re: you can't become a superstar in new japan comment he made

Kenny is a superstar in the wrestling world. If you are a big wrestling fan, you know who Kenny Omega is.

Kenny is not a superstar in the outside world. You ask a random person that doesn't watch wrestling who Kenny Omega is and who John Cena is. Cena will be known at a significantly higher clip.


I think that's the gap in communication when JR says superstar. He's not meaning it in the wrestling speak of "top level wrestler". He means the potential to be Cena/Rock levels of known outside the industry. That's how I read it anyways, and I think it's a fair statement.



re: nobody ever blames the talent

I think that's not accurate. Currently people are blaming all involved for jinder mahal being champion. vince for doing it. writers for resorting to rawr anti us heel. jinder for not being good at wrestling.

doesnt change the fact that a lot of these people get over when given even an ounce of creative freedom or not being saddled with crap. cody rhodes just wrestled two huge main events because, well, theydidnt paint a ****ing star on his face and claim he was from outer space. there isnt any saving that. thats on the writers.

Agree on both of those points. By superstar I'm guessing JR meant mainstream because I'm sure he's aware of how big KO is with wrestling fans.

Perhaps I misunderstood him. I took it as he won't leave an imprint on wrestling as a whole unless he brings his talent to the WWE. I didn't look at it like a mainstream kinda thing.

Yeah, Bryan was reaching Austin level cheers but Vince wanted to have Orton vs Batista. I realize he said "usually" to give himself an out but get out with that excuse. I'm sure some talents are complacent but it's hard to blame them when you see what happened to people like Bryan and Zack.

Someone link me something to watch from New Japan (only watched Omega/Okada 1 in the past couple years).

Came home drunk and tried to sign up for their network to watch Omega/Okada 2, holy hell is that website annoying.

Omega/Okada 2 on dailymotion?

Well look at you with your fancy internet ways.

Cheers!