sevendaughters

sorry I have been skipping this thread BAHU but slowly working through this stuff, really good

very fortunately this show starts at 7am my time and i watch big shows in my office (long story). gf just got me a nice walking flask for xmas so make a pot of coffee and out the door for 6.50am. haven't watched much wrestling at all since G1 but very up for this.

Tanahashi-Omega feud is one where I like to mentally fill in the blanks as Beech27 has done above using what I think about them, mainly because of Kenny's propensity to overplay his hand. Maybe Tanahashi does this too but I can't understand him. I watched the Jan 3 stuff just now - LIGERTIGER v Uemura/Narita was MOTN, lot of fun and they had the crowd going. Weirdly I think I like Tiger Mask now? - Honma/Henare v Nagata/Nakanishi was fun but not exactly good. I feel sad with Honma in the ring and Nagata was whiffing his shots to him. - Tenkoji v Yoshida/El Hijo del Zapatos Rojo was totally decent as well, great to see Kojima having fun in there again. Skipped through the promos as as said above Naito-Jericho was best, though Shingo is a great talker. Holds the crowd well.

WORST OPINION

Iizuka used to be cool and he's not actively harmful. Taichi is fine. I never got on with Akitoshi Saito and that's nothing to do with REDACTED. Found the whole Voodoo Murders thing boring particularly TARU and that's nothing to do with REDACTED. Damon UEDA or whatever he is called these days was fun until he'd get to the ring and I'd fall asleep. I don't loathe anyone though, it's a tough gig being a wrestler and I respect the hell out of anyone who makes a living at it.

not necessarily brimming with the idea of a BC reset but if the Elite leave and the OGz are left then that is what we have if Devitt turns up. More or less. It's weird though, BC is impervious to hip fan critique. I have a student who wears a BC hoodie week-in, week-out. It's still making money and I think not even NJPW are too cool to turn down money.

I would gladly have Devitt back. Potentially resets Bullet Club, provided everyone else slated to leave does so. He'd have to be a heavyweight though.

I am very excited for the main event and the jr. match, which I hope will give Kushi a chance to remind everyone that he is a real talent. Someone was claiming this is all building to a Tanahashi heel turn, which I am not sure would work mainly because I love him blindly. I am not terribly excited for the two semi-mains or the jr. tag in terms of hype, but I think they will deliver something. I have a lot of respect for Gedo doubling down on Jay's push though I just don't think it's going to take. The Elite basically booking part of NJPW cards has been a bugbear of mine for a while now. I expect that Page, the Yungbuxx, and Cody are going somewhere. However I expect Kenny to stay and hopefully improve with a direction that is written for him. It is sad to see that there isn't much out there for Ishii, Goto, Ibushi, Suzuki, SANADA, EVIL, etc. I'm semi-expecting a Nakamura return at some point too. Not at WK13, but I think the NYD might signpost something.

makes me think 'diabetes' and his loss of form this decade is actually alcoholism. very sad. big old cab fare that!

it's not so much that 30 minutes is too long, it's just when you can predict the patterns that things start to become a bit ho hum. The odd flash pin or loss of concentration defeat, whilst not 'pure', can do great little things for psychology. I get the mentality - the audience has paid to see stars, they want to see stars perform more than prelim guys, also the top guys are the workhorses quite often so it makes sense. But part of my own recent light downturn on NJPW is just how rigid the formats are. 10 min opening tag. 10 minute 6 man. 12 minute junior tag. Etc.

few years now but it's only the last couple of years where it doesn't feel like AJPW cosplay

For me it is CIMA's best in a while (maybe this decade?) and Takeshita looks like a proper ace.

name 'em brutha

not seen anything at all from this year's Champion Carnival. just looking at some of the matches makes me think I should remedy this.

so all the top 5 are 5* for me. after that it gets tricky. no way is Cody-Aldis worth 4.75, nor Riddle-Suzuki. But I liked what they were about and how they stand out and did something different in 2018. The rest are traditionally very good and I guess 4.5 to maybe even 5, but I need to see some again. I might have underrated that GL-Chaos tag purely because it's those same four guys again but christ I was into it.

alright Ishii-Omega G1 leads then all of these have a shot at #2 Ishii-Ibushi G1 Tanahashi-Ibushi G1 Hiromu-Ishimori BOSJ Kenny-Okada - Dominion 6-10 contenders Zeus-Kento for Triple Crown Sugiura-Nakajima for GHC Cody-Aldis for NWA at All In (not the greatest match but felt meaningful) Suzuki-Riddle at Bloodsport Ibushi-Naito G1 Thatcher/WALTER-King/Bateman at PWG All Star Weekend Okada-Tanahashi (all) CIMA-Takeshita - DDT Peter Pan Golden Lovers-CHAOS at FS Unleashed missed out loads of incredible matches too. And not even seen any BJW, Zero1, W1, or joshi this year. Shame.

ooof! hard one. let me mull it over dinner tonight. I haven't seen as much as I normally do.

just seen the Zeus v Kento match for the Triple Crown, the one with the spine-severing knifehands. Great match, in the MOTY conversation for me, or at least the top 5-10.

at that time I might have voted for The Miz. but lol @ people realising Tanahashi is great BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY SAW HIM.

this is the poster for the ALL STAR BATTLE Sumo Hall show Abby's gonna retire and Stan will be there. This show is gently shaping up well for me.

I'd really to halt this 'New Japan is failing!' story that has emerged but help yourselves for a sec here guys! [that to Harold Meij, who is reading]

Meij's goons attacking gifmakers. Lariato got some takedowns, BulletClubITAL banned. I know they were active on copyright before, most Japanese companies are, but I choose to read it as this.

I like Tsuji too. I'd like them to have a homegrown powerhouse. Like a better Nakanishi, or a new Sasaki. There's always going to be workraters.

Didn't Daichi actually leave the dojo to sign for IGF? Anyway I think that horse has bolted. He's just not that great. There are better pick-ups out there. Takeshita, Endo, and Higuchi for me would be incredible.

I think of the in-house guys they are super high on Sho Tanaka. I think they could make real money with him too.