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Purotopia General Discussion: 2017!


Kevin Wilson

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On 3/25/2017 at 10:27 AM, Godfrey said:

Has anybody kept up with Dragon Gate? I got burnt out on them because every show seemed the same but it's been a while and they've got some new names these days. Is it just business as usual though? 

I haven't watched them, but some dude has been posting full shows on youtube. I don't know how Gaora hasn't burned his house down - they usually crack down hard IIRC (though maybe that's changed?), and it's not like these videos are hard to find. 

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I posted this in the main March thread and totally spaced that this would be a better spot. My buddy Randy Reign was booked for the NOAH Global Tag League this year, teaming with Cody Hall. I'm super excited for him and looking forward to seeing him match up against the NOAH crew!

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56 minutes ago, Ace said:

Apparently the G1 Special shows in Long Beach, CA sold out within 2 hours.

 

It was less than 1 1/2 hours. They have to move it to the arena right? It would be crazy to not see how many people they can draw. 

I got my tix :)

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It's actually better this way to show how successful it is. And considering they are giving up around 1500-2000 seats, I assume a set is going to be part of the production.

I got cheap seats for day 1, and 3rd row seats and the meet and greet for day 2.

 

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It is actually possible to do a hardway headbutt, but not be as damaging if you know how to do it, but it's still unsafe. You just don't connect so hard and do it in other places. Like the counter one Goto does is to the jaw, but isn't a full force headbutt. He may not even hit their head.Ishii's done a lot like that.

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My top five 2017 NJPW matches:

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11, 4th January. *****

2. Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11, 4th January. *****

3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata. NJPW Sakura Genesis, 9th April. *****

4. Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin. NJPW The New Beginning, 11th February. ******

5. Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki. NJPW The New Beginning, 5th February.

May switch #3 and #4 around.

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Dammit.

Quote

 

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

An update on the situation with Katsuyori Shibata. Unfortunately the news appears to be very bad and that the injuries are not storyline. This is not 100 percent because there are many situations historically where this could be just storyline or a cover for something else, but it appears this is the case and that a combination of dehydration and the trauma of the legitimately skull-on-skull head-butt hospitalized him and at this point it is believed he will never be cleared to wrestle. He is currently in the hospital and is awake, can carry on a conversation, has some memories of the match itself. He initially had some right side paralysis but that is getting better

 

 

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On 13/04/2017 at 8:46 AM, Control said:

Does anyone watch Zero One anymore? Just curious.

I watch the odd match just out of curiosity.  The crowd is always dead and other than maybe Ohtani the talent don't look happy to be there.  So it's depressing.  

On another depressing note,  is All Japan really sticking with 10-12 minute matches for the majority of the Champions Carnival tour?  Sad to think this is the same tournament that once routinely produced classic 20+ min matches... 

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To be fair, often 90ies Carnivals had at least one pairing a day that was easily capable of utilizing 20+ minutes well. Even the last pre NOAH-split tournaments weren't as great as the early nineties.

 

I don't know enough about the current crop of talent, but with the state AJPW is in it's probably a little too exhausting running too many long matches.20+ minutes in front of small and silent crowds tend to be not very enjoyable.

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Totally fair point,  although my main concern is that future top guys like Jake Lee and Naoya Nomura won't develop if their key formative singles bouts all clock in at 12 minutes or less.  But then that begs the question of whether or not AJPW has much of a future for these guys to develop within anyway.  

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It certainly looks to me like some recent bouts have gone well over 10-12 minutes.  Maybe they're pacing themselves a bit more than usual?  It would make sense, not only given what ReiseReise mentioned, but also if All Japan has observed what's happened with the G1 Climax for New Japan in recent years regarding injuries, and are actively trying to protect their workers in kind.  They have a limited, but surprisingly healthy roster at this moment, so I couldn't really blame them if either or both of those points went into their booking decisions here.  

Honestly, I think All Japan appears to be in pretty good shape right now.  They have by far the best Champion Carnival lineup I've seen in years, and sold out Korakuen to kick off the tour.  Believe me, I've seen All Japan at some seriously low points over the years, but this year is not one of them.  

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How would the two of you describe All Japan's current style? Is it like New Japan, albeit with lesser known wrestlers? Something entirely different? Mixed bag of many different things? 

 

I think it's good to hear AJPW is in better shape. It will most likely never get back to it's glory days, but I think this is a problem for wrestling as a whole.

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On 4/22/2017 at 2:54 PM, ReiseReise said:

How would the two of you describe All Japan's current style? Is it like New Japan, albeit with lesser known wrestlers? Something entirely different? Mixed bag of many different things? 

 

I think it's good to hear AJPW is in better shape. It will most likely never get back to it's glory days, but I think this is a problem for wrestling as a whole.

I think the most obvious difference between current All Japan and New Japan is the overall pace of the matches.  All Japan matches tend to be slower and more methodical, and in a sense, more traditional.  Perhaps due to budget concerns, there aren't all the extra bells and whistles that New Japan can employ to get fans hyped up for the matches, i.e. slick video packages and such, so All Japan has to rely on the in-ring performances to keep the fans' interest.  You'll see more struggling, trying to gain leverage, wearing the opponent down, that sort of thing.  It may look to the casual observer that it's second-rate and plodding at times, and in some ways that observation isn't wrong.  Honestly, the premier athletes tend to go to New Japan, but there are plenty of great wrestlers in the other promotions in Japan (in fact, there are tons).  That all being said, All Japan, again out of necessity, clearly has utilized an open-door policy for the last few years, so you'll see lots of random wrestlers show up, far more than New Japan.  It's fun to see who will walk through the door next.  Sometimes they can be total bush-league, but more often than not, there's something really intriguing about the random guys they give chances to.  Anyway, everyone is working hard and it's clear they are collectively trying to keep the promotion moving forward, so I tend to watch it with that in mind, rather than be overly concerned with something being "next-level" or whatever, which is what I watch New Japan for.  

As far as whether it will ever get back to the glory days, it won't.  The comparison is so far removed at this point, getting close to 20 years now, that it's irrelevant.  I think if people just let that go, they can enjoy for what it is right now, a promotion which does the best with what it has.  

   

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