jaedmc Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 OKADA vs. SHIBATA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Fkgnn2Uig OKABAYASHI vs. RYUICHI KAWAKAMI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZchE9KLNWyA
Ultimo Necro Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 Every time I have watched Okada this year he has been having terrific matches with Tanahashi / Devitt / everyone else. I enjoy him a ton.
ultimoDANK Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 I'm not sure anyone had a better year volume wise. He had a stack of big matches and delivered everytime. He should cruise to the elite 8 where he's gonna have a tough time. Okada vs Bryan will cause me to dork out with the research.
Lazlo Woodbine Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 Okabayashi clubbers people. Okada, while I like him, does not.
Goodear Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 Does anyone know where Barry Darsow was 9 months before Okabayashi was born? EDIT: Okabayashi has never to my knowledge had a dinosaur escort him to the ring. Okada has. Voted Rainmaker. 1
NintendoLogic Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 Okada's placement in the bracket is unfortunate. By all rights, he should be a Final Four guy. 1
Raziel Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 Okada is legit Top 5 in the World right now, and is consistant no matter who he's in there with. No brainer. 1
AND THE BEAT GOES ON! Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 He always seems to know where he is and always puts together a discernible kayfabe game plan. His selling can be eh but I think that's just the nj match formula. Did nj always know he'd turn out this good or was it kind of a fluke?
Goodear Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 I appreciate that Okada at least tries to sell and does so very well in the short term considering where he is working. Like just take the Shibata match up thread. Okada is at least registering a far larger percentage of strikes than anyone else I've watched in New Japan. Everyone else seems to want to fill up their combo meter by letting the other guy forearm them in the face 20 times with no defense. Hell, Shibata kicked a damn ring post and didn't bother to sell it. Okada is like the one guy watching John Cena matches and going "Hmm I could totally do that" while everyone else is getting their Fighting Spirit all over each other.
AND THE BEAT GOES ON! Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 Yeah the nj and wwe styles have massively amalgamated and all the guys who are over in their own promotion would almost certainly get over in the other, leaving aside the look of ishii etc.
DylanWaco Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 I'm not a huge fan of either guy. Okada does a lot of little things well, and has a lot of the elements I look for in a wrestler, but there are other things that absolutely don't click, and I hate the countering sequences that come out of the Rainmaker. There are Okada matches I like well enough, some of which I like a lot (I really did like the 12/23 tag match a whole lot), but the majority of his most heavily praised matches I find to be either decent but overrated or boring and tedious. He's certainly not anyone I seek out. Okabayashi doesn't really do a ton for me either, though I did think his 3/31 match with Sekimoto was surprisingly really good. There is a part of me that says "abstain" here, but I will vote for Okada based on the fact that I think he gets underrated on the business end of things, and he was in more matches I saw that I liked to some degree.
AND THE BEAT GOES ON! Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 The rainmaker reversal sequences can look a bit sloppy depending on the person but the rainmaker's so well protected that they draw a visceral 'argh!' reaction out of me when someone's desperately trying to avoid it. I particularly like when it's tanahashi and he goes for the slingblade. I can totally see the criticism though... Have you mentioned who from Japan you would have put in this year generally dylan? You dont seem high on much of what got in.
jaedmc Posted March 9, 2014 Author Posted March 9, 2014 Have you mentioned who from Japan you would have put in this year generally dylan? You dont seem high on much of what got in.Nooooooooooo. Don't fall into his trap toooo! 1
SirSmUgly Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 I like Okada well enough, even if he doesn't have much of a personality that strikes a chord with me. Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether. He also tends to cut a quick pace no matter what sometimes. However, I did enjoy Okada/Tanahashi from January more than most matches I've seen this calendar year, and those two have good chemistry despite their faults.
NintendoLogic Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether. I don't understand why people have a problem with this. He's basically saying "This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me."
DylanWaco Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 The rainmaker reversal sequences can look a bit sloppy depending on the person but the rainmaker's so well protected that they draw a visceral 'argh!' reaction out of me when someone's desperately trying to avoid it. I particularly like when it's tanahashi and he goes for the slingblade. I can totally see the criticism though... Have you mentioned who from Japan you would have put in this year generally dylan? You dont seem high on much of what got in. There really weren't a ton of guys from Japan I thought had great years. Jinsei Shinzaki was incredible the few times he made tape, as was Tajiri. But they didn't make tape a ton, certainly not near the amount of times Okada did. I was a big fan of Fujiwara and Nishimura from last year, but they sort of fall in the same category (though I think they actually had more matches make tape, they almost certainly had less ring time). If you are going to do an international March Madness Okada absolutely deserves to make the field, even if there are easily 64 guys in total I would rate ahead of him (not 64 in Japan in his case).
SirSmUgly Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether. I don't understand why people have a problem with this. He's basically saying "This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me." Fair point. For me, it can work sometimes (RVD selling the damage to his ribs after a five-star frog splash), but it depends on the context. With Okada, usually he's all of a sudden doing a damaging move with a limb that was hanging uselessly by his side before he did the move, and it just takes me out of things. Like how are you going to throw a strike with any power if your arm is shot? But I do get your point. It just doesn't work for me, even though I still enjoy him overall.
cubbymark Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 My issue with Okada's Rainmaker is I am used to big burly dudes like Stan Hansen and JBL using a lariat as a finisher. Okada is a bit too lanky for me to believe it as a finisher and the setup takes too long, even if certain guys like Machine Gun sell it like death.
Goodear Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Sometimes, he forgets to sell in order to do some cool move - and then goes back to selling, which is more distracting than if he just dropped it altogether. I don't understand why people have a problem with this. He's basically saying "This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me." Its one thing to drop an elbow when your arm hurts. Its something else to throw a picture perfect leap 6 feet in the air dropkick when you couldn't run the ropes or stand a moment before.
AND THE BEAT GOES ON! Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Hasn't the selling always been like that in nj though? I feel like I'm making excuses but I treat it as part of the style you have to just accept. I can hack it more than the fighting spirit strike sequences to be honest
Goodear Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Oh me too, but if Okada comes up against someone like Bryan and I'm looking for a way to separate them, I'm not going to ignore it.
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