Elsalvajeloco Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 6 minutes ago, Sparkleface said: Hiroshi Nagao (or "the guy who debuted in a tag team title contendership tournament teaming with Takayama because his gimmick was that he was tall and immediately broke his ankle jumping over the top rope entering the ring") is forever my #1. My god...that's a name I haven't thought about since he was a Young Lion in New Japan. That was back when I knew every YL's name and face and was way too invested in their growth when there was far too many mediocre ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 4 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: My god...that's a name I haven't thought about since he was a Young Lion in New Japan. That was back when I knew every YL's name and face and was way too invested in their growth when there was far too many mediocre ones. He was no Katsushi Takemura, I tell you what. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinube Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 I think parts of Voices of Wrestling and the NJPW English commentary team helped create the (mainly Western) negative image of Wato. It always seemed unnecessary especially during the no-noise era. Once people could start cheering you could see that Wato and O-Khan (the other repackage that the internet did not dig) were over with the crowds. I guess you could say that Despy was constantly crapping on Wato too but at least that was done in character. Yujiro is the probably wrestling's most boring Marty Jannetty ever. How you could be that boring with a supposed pimp gimmick is astounding. But at the same time, he's also the most stable Marty Jannetty ever. He has enough of his own history (he is, after all the first Japanese member of the Bullet Club - is he the longest continuous member?) that NJPW almost never mentions No Limit anymore. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salads Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 There are so many names that did an impressive amount of nothing for the first decade or so of their careers before it clicked (Makabe / Yoshi-Hashi would be good examples of this) that it feels harsh to dunk on Dojo guys that retired early. I thought about Yujiro in the G1 thread when I noticed he wasn't included this year Here's a guy who has been in about ten G1s with some of the best in the world and you might argue he has nothing to show for it. 2023 has been great seeing the organic conversion of ironic meme Watomania into well, still meme but now not so ironic Watomania. A nice feelgood meta layer to the young star breaking out story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 AJP Taiyo Kea showed up in AJP at Korakuen Hall, it been years since he was in the AJPW ring, back in 2017. Below Muto Era AJPW guys vs the still unnamed New Unit of AJPW Kento and Yuma defeated NOAH's and KONGOH's Kenoh and Soya and won the World tags back for AJPW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 I'll never say anything bad about SANADA again, @Craig H. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Hiroshi Nagao (or "the guy who debuted in a tag team title contendership tournament teaming with Takayama because his gimmick was that he was tall and immediately broke his ankle jumping over the top rope entering the ring") is forever my #1. Giant Vabo! Giant Voba? Good Golly Big Volley? He stunk in HUSTLE too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 RE: Kevin Kelly & Chris Charlton burying guys - They do this quite a bit with House of Torture in particular (EVIL & Yujiro in particular, SHO they do play off that he's so capable but has gone down the wrong path) which is very much understandable, but I do think they can take it a bit too far at times. Specifically until this year's Super Junior they've been extremely harsh on Master Wato, who initially was the drizzling shits but sneakily started improving in 2022 yet they'd constantly bury him at nearly every opportunity. Sometimes I think they try to push online sentiment too much... RE: Worst NJ dojo graduates - Mitsuhide Hirasawa (Captain New Japan/BONE SOLDIER) is the first to come to mind. Outside the one amazing Nagata carry job, Tadao Yasuda was terrible too. Michiyoshi Ohara is another that comes to mind too that was just as bad as Yoshitatsu/Yujiro/Kenzo. There are a fair few of those 80s/90s dojo guys that maybe someone that has seen more can judge better than I too that could go on the list (i.e. Shunji Takano, Fumihiro Niikura, Shinichi Nakano) Ah Bone Soldier, forever in my memory when Kenny did that promo where he called him an intergalactic disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka-to Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 I think parts of Voices of Wrestling and the NJPW English commentary team helped create the (mainly Western) negative image of Wato. It always seemed unnecessary especially during the no-noise era. Once people could start cheering you could see that Wato and O-Khan (the other repackage that the internet did not dig) were over with the crowds. I guess you could say that Despy was constantly crapping on Wato too but at least that was done in character. I have enjoyed the repackage of Master Wato and Great O-Khan from the time they returned. Both have that wrestling thing of the perfect amount of stupid. On the other hand, I wouldn't care if I ever saw SHO and YOH again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SturmCRF Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 YOH is fine, and SHO has been making the absolute most out of his role, he hams it up but you can tell he's having fun, and he's all set to go on a massive run if they ever pull the trigger on him turning his back on House Of Torture. At the very least he'd be a great junior ace, and if it was up to me I'd put him in the heavyweight division, have him scythe through EVIL and give him a substantial push. He's built like a tank and was credible against Shingo about four years ago. The Voices Of Wresting Super J Cast were fairly harsh on Wato, but they've turned around on him now. I don't think they were ever unfair, his gimmick is stupid and using him as a big, ungainly junior plays against his strengths of eliciting sympathy. Now he's improved a lot and he's less blue and silly looking, but I'd still prefer him as an underdog heavyweight. Yujiro was one of my absolute favourites when I got into NJPW around 2010ish, and I swear at one point I wasn't the only one who thought he should be given a main event push ahead of Naito. Now that seems absurd, but it made sense to me at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 It's on pal On the 7.15 NOAH Korakuen show, Katsuhiko Nakajima vs AJPW's Kento Miyahara. Two men who don't like each other face to face in the ring soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 FWIW, Nagata Vs Anzai in AJPW more than doubled the attendance of NOAH’s Lee Vs Sugiura. Nearly 2000 in attendance for AJPW is good for them. Wonder if the same type of crowds will show up for Aoyagi. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 Nagata had and wore the old Triple Crown for one night, the 3 old belts. Usually ceremonial gesture they did for Kento and Jake Lee before in the past. Nagata had good words for Anzai. Nagata is mostly a face in AJPW but he has been a heel in NOAH before. I remember him being dispargious about NOAH in the past years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 Upcoming AJPW matches Suwama teaming with Evolution again vs Voodoo Murders, and in another match Suwama is also teaming up with Kojima and Kaz and Minoru, so Puroresu Love era AJPW vs Voodoo Murders. Guests Bodyguard and Izanagi return. More Onita and Unagi. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 JUN KASAI! One step closer to Kasai vs Moxley. Is this the thread we talk about how cool he is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Ultimo Dragon looks great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) This with the gear going to auction and the money to Hayabusa's family. Respect. Edited June 20, 2023 by The Natural Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Ya have to watch for yourself 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Good news. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 What a match and what visuals as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinube Posted June 25, 2023 Share Posted June 25, 2023 On 6/24/2023 at 12:53 AM, The Natural said: What a match and what visuals as well! This was at Aka Renga in Yokohama. Nice place. Been there for the SASUKE final stage just before covid hit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted June 25, 2023 Share Posted June 25, 2023 Nagata with Honda of GOA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now