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I really liked the Sabre/Tanahashi rematch, though not as much as their G1 match. This one had a longer runtime, which just meant they padded out the runtime with pointless interference. But Sabre was awesome going after every one of Tanahashi's limbs, really finding some killer ways to trao him in holds. 

But my god am I getting tired of hearing JR talk about what jeans and boots Davey Boy Smith wore in 1999. That's literally his only, weekly, observation about DBS Jr.

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I missed the G1 match, but holy fuck ZSJ/Tana was awesome.

The bump Kenny takes on the unprettier is so fucking dumb. Both in a "he fell right on the top of his head when he didn't need to at all" way and in a "boy that makes an already convoluted move look completely absurd" way. Otherwise the match was... Fine. Kenny is really good at what he does, it's just not the kind of wrestling that moves me.

Both tag matches were fun but nothing special.

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If you get the chance to see him live, I urge you to take it. He's a fucking monster. His size doesn't really strike me as anything special until I saw him live. And he's so smooth technically too. He's got anti-charisma though and while a master of the basics and simple match formula I don't know if he's capable of more at least in singles matches.

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7 hours ago, Oyaji said:

If you get the chance to see him live, I urge you to take it. He's a fucking monster. His size doesn't really strike me as anything special until I saw him live. And he's so smooth technically too. He's got anti-charisma though and while a master of the basics and simple match formula I don't know if he's capable of more at least in singles matches.

He needs a Bret like his dad had.

Although KES at least manage to pretty much always look badass

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I really rate Archer, think he's had some completely good matches in a range of styles, I enjoy seeing him and I think he's one of the more generous wrestlers on social media even if he's doing it in character. Smith is frustrating because I think he's had better matches than Archer and has the predigree, credentials, and skills of a STAR but never quite puts it together. Good tag team at a bad time.

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KING OF PRO WRESTLING 12/1/17~!

Dunno how much I'm gonna write tonight cause this is a three hour jaunt. Came in to see Hansen get put into a collapsing table and Archer MURDERING a young boy with a truly evil choke slam. The poor kid must've been slacking in practice or something and that was his punishment. 

KUSHIDA/OSPREAY has the latter coming out with Spider Man gear. He should've kept the mask on so we don't have to look at his ugly mug. This starts off super high-spotty including a freakin Space Flying Tiger Drop into a cross armbreaker on the floor which is batty. After that Kushida slows it down and starts with the limbwork including a mean Cattle Mutilation. Boy Ospreay likes his fruity embellishments on moves. He also loves to mug to the fans and we really don't need to see more of his teeth than necessary. I guess he's lost against Kushida four times (!) already so you can probably guess who's gonna win. Kushida is actually being dickish in this one, stomping Will in the face, scraping his face with the boots, etc. It's all to no avail with Ospreay doing the Os-Cutter (a Lethal Injection. Give me a fucking break) to win... just as I expected. Oh boy, Kamaitachi comes in and gets his fingers "broken" by Marty Scurll. I'm sure some of you are vomiting directly on your shoes at that one. At least he has a complete temper tantrum in the ring then starts laughing like a maniac after the Brits leave. 

Ann Wilson's looking good these days; I still don't need to see her singing Xmas carols. 

NAITO/ISHII: So, Naito's been talking a bunch of shit so Ishii's finally accepted his challenge for a match, and this is also a match where the winner gets the title shot which Naito already has (so again you can guess the outcome). Ishii looks pissed, probably because he knows he's gonna end up doing the job. I wouldn't want to be Naito in this circumstance. Ishii smashes the Tranquilo pose and yells something which JR translates as "Tranquilo my ass"'; Naito responds by dropkicking the knee and hilariously does the slowest roll out of the ring in the history of anyone rolling out of the ring. He works the leg a bunch but after he spits in his face Ishii decides, as Warmaster says, turnabout is fair play and goes to his knees in kind then just beats the shit out of him in the corner. Including three count em THREE chops directly to the throat. Disgusting. Naito comes back but they do a flurry of beautiful dodges from Ishii of moves into a back suplex. Naito comes back again but then slaps him in the back of the head and spits at him and looking at Ishii's face makes my flight response kick in immediately. Fittingly, Tetsuya eats a Last Ride and a huge superplex for his disrespect. Naito manages a ridiculously nasty German to come back yet again though -- Barnett calls it a "German driver" because he goes completely vertical. Of course the Stone Pitbull will not die, even when Naito busts out that crazy Sambo leglock (there has to be a name for that, it looks like a Calf Slicer). God DAMN the Gloria replay looks brutal. And Ishii dumps Naito directly on his face in response. He hypes himself up by beating his head against the turnbuckle then headbutts Naito in the nose. A big lariat, but, we get a sloppy Destino then a very cooperative second one to end the match. I loved this until the finish; it was basically the challenger's match with the pacing and hard hits expected and Naito filling in the blanks. Ishii gets spit on after. Please let this man get a title run, however short. Side thought: Ishii and Tenryu would have been the best WAR team of all time. 

OKADA/EVIL is next and I'm going to take a shower so enjoy your Undertaker theatrics

EDIT: The match was fine. It kind of never hit a fever pitch and the result, as with all of these matches tonight, was never in doubt but Okada didn't do his paint-by-numbers and let EVIL control a lot of the match, which I appreciated. And EVIL did a good job of it too; doing something as simple as a cravate after wrecking someones neck with chairs is always a plus in my book. His elevation is nice even if it's temporary. Okada sold his ass off too which is better than good. 

Okada tells Naito "you talk too much". Don't have to tell you where that's going... He also put over EVIL which is nice of him. Meanwhile Naito and Okada talk to the press in what is apparently the bathroom of the Tokyo International Airport and you wonder "why couldn't they just put them in the basement or something?"

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On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 6:56 AM, sevendaughters said:

I really rate Archer, think he's had some completely good matches in a range of styles, I enjoy seeing him and I think he's one of the more generous wrestlers on social media even if he's doing it in character. Smith is frustrating because I think he's had better matches than Archer and has the predigree, credentials, and skills of a STAR but never quite puts it together. Good tag team at a bad time.

Love watching Archer as his moves are really killer and isn't afraid to sell like some big men have been in the past. Wish they would get some good, steady tag teams in there so KES can shine more.

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OSPREAY/SCURLL was shit. Any match where somebody hangs on a rope cooperatively for nearly a full minute while the opponent waits to dive on him is awful. Kamaitachi comes out with full defensive gear so he can finally take the mic and challenge which is about the only interesting thing here besides Ospreay almost vomiting from being chopped in the throat, which was disgusting. Boy, the English speakers here like to curse (almost as much as I do) and that includes Kushida. 

OMEGA/BERETTA has Kenny nastily suplexing Mr. Trent? on the edge of a table, then putting it on him, stomping on him THROUGH it, and doing as JR says the "Here's Johnny!" through the hole in the table. He goes after the back and Trent sells it like a motherfucker before coming back, actually scooting under the ropes to German a hanging Kenny off the ropes, which is a new one period. Omega keeps falling on his face out of hubris which is nice. And, um, I mean both literally and figuratively falling on his face. And head. Alas, poor Trent? does a tope directly through the already abused table and eats an extremely nasty stream of offense yet still manages a Dude Buster (Omori's finisher). Then they just start striking until Omega manages the Angel. Beretta really sold the shit out of this one, he played out on his feet for most of the match and it made a run of offense that is pretty absurd reasonable. 

Kenny speaks what appears to be excellent Japanese then Jericho shows up on the monitor and challenges Kenny who accepts. Kenny seems like one of those guys that can plug anybody into 'his' match so it should be solid enough. The challenge thing is getting pretty old though as he even backhandedly noted; we don't need someone coming out every time after a belt defense, Gedo. 

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I really liked the finish of Marty/Will. Nice to see a match end in an understated way instead of ever escalating finisher stretches. The match wasn't real good, but, like I said, nice finish.

Omega/Trent was a Kenny Omega match, in all that entails.

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I thought Omega/Trent was slightly novel, and did some interesting things to emphasize the (weight)class difference, with Kenny leaning even more heavily on power moves and strikes than usual. Kinda reminded me of Tanahashi/Kanemoto from 2007, with the defending champ who is quick and high flying for a heavyweight suddenly put in the role of bully. 

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Brian's right about the finish; it truly sent the audience for a loop. But I just can't stand those two ugly dudes and their antics, especially "I'M GONNA BREAK HIS MOTHERFUCKING FINGERS!" ...Like you pretend to do in every match and don't succeed at? Give me a break. Go get a decent haircut instead (and this is coming from someone who's had some pretty ridiculous haircuts). 

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I hated Scurll / Ospreay up until the finish.  I love those gotcha finishes where one guy just out-techniques the other and I marked a little when Marty pointed to the old noodle after getting the win.  THIS IS A THINKING MAN'S SPORT, PEOPLE~!

JR and Josh Barnett added far more context to this match than it deserved by mentioning Will & Marty's history in the British indies and making it a point to say that Ospreay has never beaten Scurll in singles competition.  It nearly mailed in the finish, but it put it into your head that Marty had a chance of winning. 

No way that the book would take the belt off of Will on his first title defense after an epic feud with KUSHIDA, right? WRONG~!!!

I am a fairly big Kenny Omega mark, but that match with Trent Beretta showcased nearly everything I hate about Kenny Omega matches.

 

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POWER STRUGGLE 2017 PART TWO

Well I would have loved to see the Suzuki/Yano bullrope match just for shits and grins. Don't think I've ever seen Yoh and Sho. The Bucks come out and make fun of the challenge thing then still do it anyway. One of the Jacksons has a case of acne apparently. Anyway! 

TANAHASHI/IBUSHI (INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE): Today and this week have been pretty fucking garbage so I'm looking forward to seeing Ibushi dumping himself on his head along with hopefully having an awesome professional wrestling match. And boy those tights are tiny, with the cameraman getting an egregiously tight closeup of his ass as he gets into the ring. The crack (pardon the pun) NJPW Camera Team strikes again. JR cracks (pardon again) me up saying "Unchained Go-Rilla"... and the battle of the mom haircuts begins! Tana's old-as-dirt leg scissor takeover is just beautiful. Speaking of old he decides to play the role of wily vet and take out Kota's leg. Tana as semi-heel is my favorite version of Tana. God, faking Ibushi out to make him moonsault onto his feet and hurt his knee further is great. So is Tana's chopblock and Kota still selling the leg while doing his expected shit. Ibushi kicks the shit out of him three times but Tana dragons the leg and goes into the Texas Cloverleaf. Tana feels almost like Tenryu in this one. His Sling Blade even looks like it actually hurts someone for a change. WOOF, Ibushi almost cripples both of them on a rana off the top, that's just nasty. JR and Warmaster are doing a great job selling the psychology and FUCK TANA GETS LAWN DARTED INTO THE BUCKLES. And then Germaned off the second rope. They both miss dives with Jim saying "the pool was dry" haha. Then they just start slapping, punching and kicking the shit out of each other and this is fucking awesome. So chippy, so mean. Ibushi even holds Red Shoes' arm so he doesn't see him stomping Tana's face! Then they go home pretty quick with two mean looking High Fly Flows after a Last Ride and an escape from the knee strike. JR says "I could watch them wrestle all night long" and I'll be honest, they have such good chemistry, I could too. That was fantastic. 

Then (oh, gross) Cody challenges Ibushi. Ibushi is still selling the knee, at least. Tana says a bunch of fans stopped watching NJPW when he was champ (?) and he won't let any of them down again, which is weird. Warmaster says the air guitar makes him feel like he was at a Dio concert back in '84. A man after my own heart... 

...aaaaaaaaaaaand then we get the challenge from Switchblade. The intro video shows Gedo's love of WWE knows no bounds. Christ, Jay White looks like he's all of 16 years old. At the very least they fight for a minute after the challenge. 

Well, that was pretty satisfying. Hiroshi needs to get crankier and Ibushi needs to get crankier while keeping the selling at a peak and we'll eventually get a stone classic out of them. As it is, that was one hell of a match, and I honestly have to say one of the best of the year. 

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23 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

Awesome match between Tanahashi and Ibushi. I feel that if you're going to have the switchblade gimmick, you should be able to grow a full beard.

He should just look like a straight up greaser from the '50s, and come out to this 

It would kill him as a performer but it'd be the funniest shit ever. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

WRESTLE KING-DOME 12

Okay so what the fuck is up with these subtitles? They weren't there when I woke up after a post-dinner nap to see Jericho and Omega going at it. And why must they be right in the line of vision instead of at the bottom of the screen? This is... problematic. 

CODY/IBUSHI: Brandi getting dropped like a sack of 'taters by Ibushi was funny. She is clearly all-in on the pro game. Ibushi, as always, has no regard for his spine; however, the Cross Rhodes actually looks safer the more I watch it. I mean, as safe as you can make somebody pretending to spike their head into the floor off the apron, anyway. Cody isn't afraid to be lawn-darted into the buckle pad either. Shit, he busted out a great lariat out of nowhere -- who expected that? Hey, it was short and fun, good selling, Cody didn't looked smoked and his dye-job and Brandi are pulling the character together. Perfectly fine match. 

Junior Four-Way next week. AXS, YOU OWE US OUR MISU. Don't make me get him on the horn and tell him his match wasn't on the first airing. 

TANAHASHI/WHITE: Thankfully those subtitles are gone now. Mr. Switchblade looks more like one of those switchblade combs instead of one with something that could cut you. He has that deer-in-the-headlights look on his face besides, which you can't begrudge him, getting a big push and being thrown into a match with Hiroshi fuckin' Tanahashi in the Tokyo Dome and all. I guess Tana got a weave for the Dome, btw. He does a perfect job selling the injured knee while JR and Warmaster waffle on in that Stupid White American way about them having Cherokee blood and whatnot just because White did an Indian Deathlock. Nobody gives a shit, fellas. White has a nice deadlift German and the brainbuster on the apron was short and mean but man, he gets stuck on the top and the crowd just starts laughing. I feel sorry for the dude. Then they redo the spot? Yeah there was a definite communication breakdown there. I guess Tana watched the previous match because he does a Cross Rhodes off the top. White has a fine moveset but that face... Okay match despite some fuckups, and Tana ignoring the knee to just do whatever. White will improve, sadly his gimmick and look sucks. 

OMEGA/JERICHO:  "C'MON YOU SONOFABITCH!" If you don't love the BS leading up to this match then stop watching wrestling, it ain't for you. Anybody know what Jericho comes out to the ring to? It doesn't sound good (it's probably Fozzy) but I know he likes to switch it up in Japan so just wondering. JR brings up him wrestling as Super Tiger which I'm sure Chris will give him shit about later. Meanwhile, what in the bleeding hell is Kenny wearing and carrying? Yeah, Stargate, whatever; it's silly. Jericho's looking paunchy and he's got some new tattoos as well. This is sloppy, nasty, and fun. Red Shoes getting pie-faced and his son getting put in a Liontamer is fantastic. Aaaaaaaand we have BLEEDING FROM MOUTH~! The powerbomb must be the first one Jericho has ever done, at least that I've seen. JR does a good cover for Red Shoes doing the rope break attempt earlier. LIONSAULT! I guess that inspires Kenny to start doing highspots. TBH the cold spray bit busted me up, esp. Barnett saying "dusting off his keyboard", then they just cut the comedy completely by Omega trying to concuss himself on the chair in the corner. Guess I missed the blade spot because I was writing, shit. Now Jericho is bleeding from mouth too so we are in Full NJ Effect here, and that was one nasty Liontamer... unfortunately they did a rope break like idiots. And then they do it again for the One Winged Angel? Okay fuck you Red Shoes, quit changing the goddamn rules. Brutal finish. In a word: flawed. Jericho deserves a medal for doing this at 48 though. 

I'll do shorthand on the main after the fact

EDIT: The white dude with the Misfits - Horror Business Takahashi shirt, holy shit. I'd wear that every day of my life. 

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