maciej

I feel like last year's G1 really made me come around to the modern day New Japan style, which, during the Okada era, hasn't really been my thing. So I went into this last night quite optimistic, but it turns out it's still not quite my thing. There are things here I really admire (ex. even though I didn't think the cross-body over the rail reversed to a knee spot looked that great, the follow up on it, which among other things made Kenny's chops actually seem significant was really clever), I think that maybe because I don't absolutely adore their other matches , this extended riff on them just isn't going to capture me emotionally the same way it does y'all (even though I do know and understand the story points), and therefore keep me engaged as they stretch this out. I'm sure in some of the moments that I would have happily edited out of this match there's a tension that would be building inside me if I already really cared about these guys that would heighten the total effect. And, to be clear, I am human, so it's not like I didn't connect to the emotion of Kenny finally overcoming Okada in a title match and wasn't moved by some of the selling. But as it stands the work itself (or like 50% of it) just didn't really grab me in a way where I wasn't often waiting for them to just get to the finish. I don't regret watching it, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what Kenny does with his title defenses, and I hope this doesn't come across as just being a party pooper for the sake of it, but I also do hope they just let keep Kenny away from Okada for a minute.

So, what do y'all think are the chances they successfully keep this going for a mask vs. hair match at the Aniversario? I took a vacation to Mexico City last year that coincided with that show, and I'm considering maybe doing it for a second year in a row. It's such a wonderful city for food and art, and it'll def be a fun show to go to no matter what the main event is, but I feel like it actually being LA Park vs. Rush would really tip the scales for me.

Here's the wonderful LA Park, Volador, y Flyer vs. Los Ingobernables main event from last night:

fucking RUN don't walk to that LA Park/Volador/Flyer vs. Ingobernables match from tonight if you missed it live. What a spectacle.

That main event teasing us with the very fun opening too, god damn.

Loved the opener but damn, all the match structure decisions on the rest of that show, it's like they're trying to make it easier to stop watching when they bring back Hogan.

Oh, sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant the one where he's running at Ciampa and then Ciampa ducks and sends him over the rope.

That's three really great matches, goddamn. I think the main might actually be my third favorite match on first watch, but as I wasn't completely enthralled with some of the beginning, and a few spots were a little nonsense (Johnny, what is that running one handed crutch attack yr attempting? Ciampa, Johnny is like 8 feet away outside the ring, why are you reaching for him?). That said, least favorite of the three in this case probably means one of the, like, 20 best matches I'll see this year. When the emotion eventually arrived for me it was huge, and the overall storytelling was terrific. So, it seems there's not a lot of people that loved the women's match even more than the main, but I'm in that camp for sure. I love Ember Moon because there's no one else that really moves the way she does. So her big jumping strikes look really distinct and cool. I like pretty much all the work they do here, I like the selling in the big spots, and, maybe most importantly, this match gave me two things I've legit never see in a ring and also worked as great character moments for Baszler: the Lethal Weapon spot and the the hair grip on the sleeper. Ladder match was bonkers. Big multi-person matches aren't generally things I expect to love and I was on board for every second of it. Ricochet's bumping was even better than his dives.

They're hanging poor Candace out to dry on this pre-show making her answer slightly different versions of the same question from all these dummies for like 10 minutes.

A quick first quarter top 15 before Mania weekend: 1. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade Cien Almas, Takeover: Philadelphia, 1/27 2. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs.The Authors of Pain, Takeover: Philadelphia, 1/27 3. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade Cien Almas, NXT TV, 2/21 4. Mustafa Ali vs. Jack Gallagher, 205 Live, 2/20 5. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev, Fastlane, 3/11 6. Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream, NXT TV, 1/24 7. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Roma Reigns vs. Elias vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Braun Strowman, Raw, 1/29 (Gauntlet Match) 8. Nia Jax vs. Asuka, Elimination Chamber, 2/25 9. Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong, 205 Live, 3/13 10. Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak, 205 Live, 3/20 11. Bailey vs. Sasha Banks, Raw, 2/12 12. Roderick Strong vs. Pete Dunne, NXT TV, 2/14 13. Roderick Strong vs. Kalisto, 205 Live 2/27 14. Bailey vs. Asuka, Raw, 2/5 15. Sasha Banks vs. Asuka, Raw, 1/29

Asuka vs. Nia ruled tho

Scared for both of them:

The main was amazing, Def Top 10 NXT match all time, right up there with the Revival tags, Bate/Dunne, Sasha/Bailey, Ember/Asuka, etc. But it looks like I'm by some distance the highest person on the opening tag. It's not as stunning in the sober light of day as it was when I watched it drunk after a work party last night (in my brain this morning the Kyle/Razar shootstyle opening was like 3 times longer, haha), but I still really like it. Giving the Authors some more room to breathe and work in their individual talents is proving a very good thing. The random Akam injury storyline is a smart way to do this match, I think, and ReDragon as efficient veterans who can take apart the younger giants when presented an opportunity totally works for me. Also Akam's lariat to Bobby Fish on the apron miiiiiight be my favorite lariat in WWE history? I say that without a lot of thought so I'm sure I'm wrong, but that was Hansen-esque clubberin.

I saw somebody on twitter crushing on Bailey's generic indie pop-ass theme song the other day and I was like, man, Jiro's theme is right there, don't you like feeling real joy?

Yeah, sorry, probably should have answered that. DDT just did 6 shows of a round robin tournament, with the final to come this weekend. So, for me: 1/3 (not really part of the tournament but I loved this match): Very Highly Recommended: HARASHIMA, Kuroshio, & Higuchi vs. Takeshita, Bailey, & Ishikawa 1/5: Recommended: Endo vs. Takahashi, Ishii vs. HARASHIMA Highly Recommended: Takeshita vs. Kuroshio, Bailey vs. Ishikawa 1/7: Recommended: Bailey vs. Akito, Kuroshio vs. Takahashi Very Highly Recommended: Takeshita vs. Endo 1/8: Recommended: Higuchi vs. Sasaki, Kuroshio vs. HARASHIMA, Takahashi vs. Ishii, Bailey vs. Takao 1/10: Recommended: Sakaguchi vs. Ishikawa, Higuchi vs. Akito Highly Recommended: Endo vs. Kuroshio, Takeshita vs. HARASHIMA 1/11: Recommended: Ishikawa vs. Sasaki, Kuroshio vs. Ishii, Sakaguchi vs. Bailey, Takeshita vs. Takahashi 1/13: Recommended: Takahashi vs. HARASHIMA Highly Recommended: Bailey vs. Higuchi 1/14: Highly Recommended: Ishii vs. Takeshita, Endo vs. HARASHIMA, Bailey vs. Sasaki Very Highly Recommended: Higuchi vs. Ishikawa tbh I was so excited to finish the tournament that I haven't watched any of the opening tags on the shows, so there very well might be some KUDO goodness in them there tags

Now that the group stages are over, I just want to come back and say that the D-King Grand Prix really delivered on the promise of those first few shows. Even if you're relatively stingy with your wrestling watching and don't watch whole shows that often (which describes me outside of a few promotions), I think watching all these group matches (ok, maybe not the Joey Ryan ones) is a decent bet. I can def recommend more specifically if anyone wants to pick and choose, but really, go ahead and watch these shows, you won't be disappointed. The Ishikawa/Higuchi match on the 1/14 show is probably my fav, and that show (the last of the group stage) is especially excellent.

Is there a better thread to talk about this shit?

The DDT D-King Grand Prix is off to a really amazing start. Especially if you throw in the tremendous 6-man main event of the 1/3 show (which, besides being great on its own, would be a terrific start if you haven't been into DDT in a while/ever and want to start watching), these last few days have had so many good matches. The roster is just loaded right now, and though I know Joey Ryan is divisive, everyone else in this round robin tournament is, I think, very good. Now is a great time to dip your toes into the DDT pool; start with the 1/3 main event, and then all the tournament matches on the 1/5 and 1/7 shows are pretty fun, with Ishikawa/Bailey and Takeshita/Kuroshio really standing out on night one, and Takeshita/Endo on night two.

I'm not sure I can think of an opening to a wrestling match I like better than this:

I don't think this ever got posted here, and I just watched it and absolutely loved it. It has one of my favorite openings to a match in recent memory, and is just a terrific 7 minutes.

EVE put up one of the shows from their SHE-1 tournament for free on YouTube (for a limited time, apparently), and it's really damn fun. Great arena brawl from KLR & Charli Morgan, the main is kinda short but does all the good stuff you might want from a Meiko/Viper match, and really the whole card is at least good. Highly recommended way to spend ninety minutes and a really great commercial for the company:

Pleasantly surprised there's watchable tape of this, which is great, as I'm not sure I saw more that like 30% if what was happening live. It was a very fun time, though, and any match where a bodyslam gets a semi-meaningful two count in 2017 is pretty good in my book.

This match was very fun, but also I love the Guadalajara TV's insistence that instant replays look like the intro to an alien conspiracy documentary.

- Velveteen Dream vs. Black was just so fresh and different; I had relatively high hopes for that match but they shattered them. - I'm so happy for Almas. - The main was fun enough despite being nothing like a traditional War Games match, though the finish was super weak. I did totally love that none of them could leave the ring afterwards cuz Dain swallowed the key.

In addition to the UL3 stuff, here's 10 more I liked a lot. Man these seem like so long ago: - Puma vs. Mil from e7 - Rey vs. Chavo from e9 - Puma vs. Mil from e10 - Pentagon vs. Black Lotus Triad from e13 - Johnny vs. Mack All Night Long from e20 - Puma vs. Mil from e21 - Mil vs. London from e26 - Puma vs. Dante from e29 - Johnny vs. Dragon Azteca from e29 - Mil vs. Crane from e30