Ace Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Spoiler Okada also proposed that he and Tana become a tag team again and go for the tag belts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Card felt maybe one or two matches too much.. but most of the matches were good. Mercedes vs. kairi was great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 It could've done without Lawlor vs Homicide. And Mercedes' homage to Hana was put over by Jungle Kyona. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Met Roy Lucier he’s awesome if you don’t know who he is he has YouTube channels dedicated to Lucha. It was cool meeting him he had a AAA tattoo. In the 45 minutes we were all waiting around everyone got their picture taken with CM Punk I went and met No Way Jose he’s really cool too. He was sitting next to Rob Naylor and I didn’t recognize him. I know that’s almost sacrilege on this board but I didn’t know it was him. I ran into Dave Meltzer on my way back to the car. He was cool too. The Show was really fun it’s late so I won’t get fully into it but man did I have fun. Kingston Vs White and Mone Vs Kairi were the matches of the night hands down. David Finlay was the biggest heel in New Japan in those 5-10 minutes he was cutting his promo. If they can keep that momentum going they might have something. I enjoyed Lawlor vs Homicide maybe it came off better live than on TV and I was impressed by Rosser dude can wrestle I never noticed or he wasn’t really given an opportunity to show what he could really do in the WWE it’s one of the two. Here’s a picture No Way Lucier and myself I’m the one in the Lita shirt 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt925 Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 That 41 minute delay was a bummer, and the crowd was getting testy but everyone was hot as the show started. I was worried that they would cut time from matches but three of the earlier matches went over 15 minutes so they weren’t cutting any time. I agree at least the lawlor match there was no need to remove the damn ropes. That was just a basic hardcore match. But they did rush through intermission, as soon as the ropes were back they played the next pre tape. Crowd was so hot for Mercedes and Kairi. That was such an awesome match. I’ve been to a bunch of cool shows and seen a bunch of really great matches, this is definitely right up there for me. Okada and tanahashi barely anyone left for and the crowd was red hot as well. Really fun show. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 I thought Okada and Tanahashi did the professional thing of having a really good match but didn’t try to over shadow Mercedes-Kairi match which was very good. What I mean by that is they went out and had a 20 minute match and not a 40 minute Wrestle Kimgdom Epic. I think the crowd only had 20 minutes left in them and I think they read that. Saying all that it was really cool to watch these two wrestke each other live on American Soil. Crowd myself included was really hot for Mercedes vs Kairi. I’m not sure how it transferred on Fite but when Mercedes came out us 3,000 sounded like 30,000. Mercedes seemed to be pleasantly surprised by the response. Those two women busted their asses off it was their sure. The place would out on their backs. Okada Vs Tanahashi was announced a week before the show. Mercedes has a bright post WWE career. Also it was a blast watching Baylay lose it for her friend like she was a kid again. Mercedes Monès biggest fan that night and there were a ton of Mercedes shirts in that crowd. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt925 Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I guess he was sitting in the upper level. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 7 minutes ago, matt925 said: I guess he was sitting in the upper level. He was over on the right side of you walked into the building through the main doors he was on the right side upper level 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I liked the Mercedes match. Only thing I'm iffy about is that she spent so much of the match working de facto heel, including a couple of big transgressions and she shouldn't have gotten the noble triumphant, post match moment with Kairi. Kairi should have refused the handshake and left her there. Very much a "have your cake and eat it too" kind of moment which didn't feel earned, no matter how good the match was. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Schneider Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I am curious what you think of Jay White vs. Kingston, I dug it, but I am a Kingston superfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SturmCRF Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I took the Mercedes heelishness as indulging her Eddie Guerrero fandom, and just generally revelling in being free to add a bit more nuance to her work now she isn't working for a company where most wrestlers have to either 'love to have fun!' or literally be Satan. But yeah, she was definitely both having and eating cake. Excellent match, maybe not quite as good as Giulia vs Suzu Suzuki from the other week, but better than anything she's had in WWE for a long while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 1 hour ago, SturmCRF said: I took the Mercedes heelishness as indulging her Eddie Guerrero fandom, and just generally revelling in being free to add a bit more nuance to her work now she isn't working for a company where most wrestlers have to either 'love to have fun!' or literally be Satan. But yeah, she was definitely both having and eating cake. Excellent match, maybe not quite as good as Giulia vs Suzu Suzuki from the other week, but better than anything she's had in WWE for a long while. I loved all the little things she adds to a match. She's always adding these struggle for positioning elements, you see her biting Kairi to get out of a submission. She's one of the best women out there at adding realism to make it more a fight.. She also added a couple slick lucha moves, the match had some WWE style sports entertainment but combined with Joshi and a little lucha. I'd say it's Mercedes best match since Bianca Belair in the WM37 main event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Phil Schneider said: I am curious what you think of Jay White vs. Kingston, I dug it, but I am a Kingston superfan Just got through it. I'm not going to do a full write up, I thought it was a pretty great White performance, with Kingston serving as the Platonic ideal that he had to press up against. The way I read it was that White was a man lost, who started the match not taking it all seriously. He led by mouthing off to Eddie that this was his big moment, immediately went to the throat, and only could keep up any offense by going dirty (shin, eyes, throat). Eddie just kept powering through it, often with one chop. There was a moment after he went dirty and then followed it up with a suplex into the corner, that White started to look to the camera. He was about to taunt, about to be nonchalant, lean into the Bullet Club mentality, but it all felt empty and worthless and bankrupt and you could see it in his eyes. As the match went on, he started to tangibly feel more and more how much Eddie wanted this, how much he valued it, the heart of wonder that he could find in every opportunity wrestling for NJPW. At first, White didn't care. Then, he wanted it just because Eddie wanted it. And as the match went on, he started to feel the value of it, started to try to prove that he was worthy of it. It wasn't his dream though. It was Eddie's. He was just stealing it to fill the vacant hole within himself and no matter how talented he was, he couldn't rise to Eddie's level by stealing someone else's dream. There was one moment of doubt, where Eddie, in his frustration and angry at White's vacillating spirit that went from rising to the occasion and falling back to dirty tricks, let his own humanity overcome his Inoki-ism and he resorted to an eyerake as well. He paid for that by eating White's finish, but redeemed himself by being too much and rolling to the outside. The finishing stretch was White as a desperate man, now finally realizing what he was about to lose, what he had taken for granted, ready to start a journey only to find the door quickly closing. And in those last moments as he rose again and again, Eddie finally saw in him a man who deserved this opportunity, only to understand that it all came too late, something Eddie understands more than most men. I guess that's more or less a full write up anyway, but yeah, even if 70% of that was intentional, it was a hell of a thing. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 10 hours ago, Matt D said: I liked the Mercedes match. Only thing I'm iffy about is that she spent so much of the match working de facto heel, including a couple of big transgressions and she shouldn't have gotten the noble triumphant, post match moment with Kairi. Kairi should have refused the handshake and left her there. Very much a "have your cake and eat it too" kind of moment which didn't feel earned, no matter how good the match was. This, basically. Thought it was a good match (although TBH probably about 95% of what Kairi/Sasha would have been on a WWE ppv if it was ever booked to happen) but going from cheapshotting Kairi at the Dome show to cheating and heeling all match to hugging and crying afterwards felt kinda half-assed if I'm being honest. Look at what was written about Jay White in the post above this, I appreciate it when the performer fully buys in and that was the one thing that was lacking in this specific case. Hopefully now that she's past the big "first match" deal it won't be a thing moving forward as it's not like this is a problem she's had before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AverageKong Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 I heard the name Eddie Kingston for years but never went out of the way to check his work out, so I'm thankful for AEW giving him exposure on a national level. Other than being great on commentary... I love his ring style. He and Jay slugged their way through a nice match. I felt Jay White has had a good NJPW run and he found more success than I thought he ever would. Rosser vs KENTA was interesting. I'll have to check out Rossers work with Lawlor, but I didn't really like this match. I remember reading an interview where Romero put over Rosser for being a hard worker, but bringing him into NJPW was a hard sell. The guy just isnt known for standout matches. In a match vs KENTA on a sold out show for a title... it felt a little too slow paced and underwhelming. KENTA working matches like this 20 yrs ago would have probably saved him some injuries. Kairi vs Mercedes was MOTN for me as it should have been. I knew and hoped Mercedes was going to walk out champ, otherwise what would the end game have been? Immediately draw spotlight and attention to that title and a huge star. There was just enough of everything in this match and it came with very few hiccups. Hopefully Mercedes ends up in the ring with Kairi again as there is another level I feel those 2 can take it too. NJPW is undoubtedly the largest promotion in Japan so I never understand why production of their shows always struggles. I don't know if applies to what makes it to Japanese TV but every stream I've bought has had some sort of technical difficulty, usually audio, that makes me question why such a successful company encounters so many hiccups 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Two of the best matches this year in Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White and Mercedes Mone vs. KAIRI. Think Kingston/White was my MOTN and y'all know I'm a bit fan of TAFKA Sasha Banks. Big loss for WWE. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi was one of the weakest of their legendary rivalry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 (edited) Edited February 22, 2023 by The Natural 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) What was the merchandise like, @matt925 and @Web Conn? Cheers. Bet NJPW made big money there. Edited February 26, 2023 by The Natural Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt925 Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 3 minutes ago, The Natural said: What was the merchandise like, @matt925 and @Web Conn? Cheers. Bet NJPW made big money there. I just gave it a glance but prices were really high and there was a pretty long line as I entered the venue. As I was sitting down people watching during the delay, I saw a ton of people with the yellow shopping bags making their way to their seats. They definitely made a bunch of money on merch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, matt925 said: I just gave it a glance but prices were really high and there was a pretty long line as I entered the venue. As I was sitting down people watching during the delay, I saw a ton of people with the yellow shopping bags making their way to their seats. They definitely made a bunch of money on merch. Thanks. Thought prices would be high and busy queues too. My NJPW Lion Mark Full Zip Hoodie was the most I've paid for wrestling merchandise. Kept my yellow NJPW shopping bag boxed together with my hoodie and a bonus item, a cloth with the Lion Mark/Bullet Club/Chaos/LIJ logos. Edited February 26, 2023 by The Natural Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted February 26, 2023 Author Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) I bought an event shirt for 40 bucks before Okada Vs Tanahashi the line had died down but when I had gotten there at about 5:30-6 the line wrapped around the corner. The bonus item was a refrigerator magnet. Edited February 26, 2023 by Web Conn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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