Evil Otto Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Well, it's close to midnight here in Tokyo, and I'm too tired to go into details about it right now, so I'll give you my summary of the card tomorrow. Lots to say. Main point being, I went to see the All Japan show tonight at Korakuen, and I suppose this probably needs spoilers...at the very least for dramatic effect... Your new Triple Crown champion is Joe Doering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 That seems kind of dumb to do right now when things are in need of a bit more stabilization at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Z Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 So, that's three Triple Crown title changes in a six week timespan, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Otto Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Okay, thoughts on the 7/27 Korakuen show...at this point, if you were interested in it at all, you've probably already seen the results, so just a heads up that I'm dispensing with spoilers since they no longer seem necessary.... First of all, I arrived at the show late, entering right at the end of SUSHI vs. Menso-re Oyaji. I actually thought that the fact that I could still buy a ticket and enter was a bad sign regarding the attendance. I was completely wrong. The place was packed; if not an actual sell-out, then really close to it. In addition, it was a really hot crowd (on a dreadfully hot day). I've seen All Japan at Korakuen multiple times now in the last 10 years, and it was never like this. The Dory Funk Jr. match was on next, and man, is Dory old. Sorry, Dory. It was a little uncomfortable to watch, and I think the crowd was with me in cheering Dory along to do what he needed to and click on the right spots and then take it home. Which everyone did. If this was Dory's last match in Japan, this would be a good way to wrap it up: big crowd, great reception. Dory is apparently the "President" figurehead now, so that's cool. Omori gets bonus points for heeling it up with Dory, which really got the crowd into the match, despite the occasional slow motion aspect of it all. It was fun, it was nostalgic, it worked for this crowd. Plus, I got to hear the old Funk brothers swanky theme song live, that was a blast! Next up was KENSO/Kengo Mashimo vs. Zeus/Hideki Suzuki. KENSO can be entertaining, and can be lead to a good match here and there, but that's about it, and this match didn't sway my opinion. Standard prelim match, nothing terrible, and a few nice spots from Suzuki and Mashimo. I really like both those guys, lots of upside. Due to being up against DK, Suzuki had to play face in this one, which wasn't his strong suit. Rather awkward. The crowd really got into Zeus, though; he's not really anything special to me, but he's certainly trying to make an impression. He made an impassioned speech about joining All Japan after the match, and the crowd got into it. I guess he might be a regular soon as well. He does have charisma, I'll give him that. I'm not sure when this happened (I think before the six-man with Dory), but here's another spoiler (sans the tag): Brother Yasshi returned. He came out and made a cryptic speech. Honestly, the crowd was lukewarm to this. Of course, they were surprised at first, but I could sense Yasshi is not really the type of wrestler they want to see at this point, myself included. Dark Kingdom would make the most sense to me. The Akiyama/Kanemaru vs. Miyahara/K. Suzuki match is where things really started cooking. Short but sweet, Akiyama was his usual surly self, and he made sure the match went where it needed to go. Miyahara with a significant win here, that was clearly the story. They have a future star with this guy, and they picked a great time to showcase him. Due to the attendance, there is a renewed interest in this promotion, and making it clear that Miyahara is a star on the rise, even though more diehard fans already knew that, was really smart booking. Irie and Ishii defended the tag titles against Takeshi Minnamino and Mitsuya Nagai next. A good match, but nothing I would call great, although there were some nice moments near the end. The tag champs were clearly a level above their challengers, so the right team won. Mitsuya Nagai is a lot bigger than I imagined, actually. Minnamino is also a good pick-up for All Japan; I'm not sure if I see him as a top level guy, but he's got a fun character and he worked well bumping around for Irie and Ishii, and you should always have guys like that on the roster. Miyahara and Suzuki stepped up to challenge for the titles at the end, and that's absolutely a match I'd like to see. Aoki and Sato for the junior title was up next. Really intense, well-laid out match. The crowd was rowdy all night, but quieted down at times during this, not out of boredom, but out of keen interest in following along. The finish could be seen as a little flat, but given the logical aspect of where this match was going, it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment. Good stuff. Finally, Suwama vs. Doering. Dory's back to make the introductions. First of all, there was a REALLY vocal contingent of fans close to where I was sitting that called out "JOE! JOE! JOE!" pretty much from the get-go, and if anything, that spread throughout the crowd by the end of the match. As expected, both guys laid it in heavy, Joe in particular. Suwama sold most of the match, and this really helped the crowd to be fully convinced of Joe's superiority. Suwama did the tried and true make the other guy look like a million bucks routine, and it paid off brilliantly in the end. The ending was of course a surprise, but the crowd really took to it almost immediately. It was a really cool moment which made me glad I went, although I had no idea this outcome would be the thing that would put it over the top for me. Joe soaked up the cheers for a while and everyone went home happy. I'm sure there will be some debate about putting the title on Joe here, but honestly, it couldn't have been executed any better. You had the crowd leaving with something really neat that they just saw, the buzz was definitely there. Doering, Irie/Ishii, Miyahara and Aoki all looking strong. That works for me. Of course, it really helps to have a near sell-out crowd that was more than willing to be vocal. I have no idea if All Japan can keep up the momentum, and to be brutally honest, their match quality is still a bit dodgy at times, but there's definitely more positives than negatives at this stage for this promotion, if last night is any indication... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Doering will lose the belt to Akebono and the circle will be complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Was Sanada going to go to TNA sort of "full time". I assume that's not the case now either way, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordi the former AEW fan Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Great write-up, Evil Otto. Catching a show at Korakuen is still on my to-do list. I envy you that experience. It probably goes without saying, but Doering is an absolutely huge human being. I've taken pictures with everyone from Akiyama to Zeus to Suwama, to Bob Sapp, to Abdullah... and Joe Doering is the only guy who, when I look at the picture, makes me feel small. I was a bit over 250 lbs when we took this pic, and I look tiny next to him: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Great write-up, Evil Otto. Catching a show at Korakuen is still on my to-do list. I envy you that experience. It probably goes without saying, but Doering is an absolutely huge human being. I've taken pictures with everyone from Akiyama to Zeus to Suwama, to Bob Sapp, to Abdullah... and Joe Doering is the only guy who, when I look at the picture, makes me feel small. I was a bit over 250 lbs when we took this pic, and I look tiny next to him: IDEA. Now that he's got championship gold, see if he won't change his name to Joe "Golden" Doering and suggest he come out to "Radar Love". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterien Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Can anyone recommend me some good matches from Japan involving Okada, Tanahashi, Suzuki, Ishii and others if possible? I have been watching the G1 tournament and im hooked. EDIT: Probably should mention I haven't watched much puro outside of the G1 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Start with the YES/NO folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Can anyone recommend me some good matches from Japan involving Okada, Tanahashi, Suzuki, Ishii and others if possible? I have been watching the G1 tournament and im hooked. EDIT: Probably should mention I haven't watched much puro outside of the G1 Thanks Pretty much anything that was on iPPV is a solid choice. Okada's series with Styles had been solid, and he had a good showcase match vs. Ibushi at the Anniversary show. Ishii's NEVER Title match vs. Naito was aces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I touched on this in the big thread, but Okada vs Tanahashi is a series you want to track down every match from. Most of Devitt's Bullet Club run was good. The Ishii vs Shibata series was aces. HIGHLY recommend tracking down last year's G1. As mentioned above, all of the ippv's from the last couple of years are really worth going through. 2012 to current has been really great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterien Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 OH, and Ditch is your friend http://theditch.us/010-present.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Ditch is the boss. Where'd he go? Didn't he used to moderate this forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 He might be busy with reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Ape Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Until I re-found Ditch's site, I thought he had made like PUNQ and moved on to other interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Looks like Go Shiozaki has officially returned from injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Unless it's a typo, puro love is reporting 9000+ as the attendance for the latest DDT show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAHU Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 9100 was the number I saw announced for their Ryogoku show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Isn't that kind of attendance pretty much unheard of outside of New Japan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 DDT drew 12 000 for their Budokan show so no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I still think of DDT as that weird, WWE-influenced indy that drew 500 people and had a dude with a snake gimmick years before Santino. So strange. How'd they get so popular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 That's my question as well, though there doesn't seem to be a lot of trickle-down attendance from these bigger shows: correct me if I'm wrong, but based on purolove's results. they average about 200-500 for house shows, and their Samurai broadcasts get around a thousand or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAHU Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 A lot those house shows the 250-500 is just how much the building holds. Korakuen are usually in the 1300-1600 range but they had 2000 back in June even. But pretty much what you said is similar how a WWE house show can draw 4,000 and WrestleMania can draw over 68,000. Sumo Hall is their WrestleMania and they stack the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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