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Purotopia General Discussion: 2017!


Kevin Wilson

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In the latest observer, Dave says people in NJPW feel like Omega is sticking around to early 2019 barring the company fucking up or WWE making an absurd offer. The Bucks' contracts are up at the end of 2018, which he suggested isn't a coincidence. 

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Lol, if the Bucks get signed to the WWE, the collective outrage will create some sort of cyberspace black hole that will cripple the internet.  

I'll miss this site (it will be among the first to go, I expect).

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Note that Hase will still be the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)  at that show (his first match in 11 years) because Prime Minister isn't planning on reshuffling his cabinet until early August. So that'll be something.

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I legit have barely seen anything from Japan in 10 years and I know nothing about the current scene. But Fire Pro tripped a switch in me that hasn't been tripped in a very, very long time now. So I'm watching the Miyahara vs Ishikawa triple crown match from May. Pretty good stuff so far even though I know absolutely nothing about either guy.

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I've been quietly catching up with some wrestling again, and I started with what AJPW has had to offer 2017 so far. I hadn't seen All Japan in action since 2010, and I know they've been through to turbulent years, but I very glad Akiyama has preserved Muto's "puro love" feel of their shows. The promotion is a lot of fun at the moment! Miyahara is having a great year, and they are doing some quality booking with their own talent. They are getting behind their young lads Yuma Aoyagi, Jake Lee and Naoya Nomura, which means so am I. I have big hopes for Aoyagi in particular. Zeus & The Bodyguard are a real bulldog team! The use of Bodyguard the first few months was amazing! He came across as a legit star. Only half-way through the year and they've already surpassed 2010 by a mile, IMO. Haven't been catching up with New Japan yet, so I can't compare, but AJPW is a promotion to follow!

 

1. May 21, 2017 - Kento Miyahara (c) -vs- Shuji Ishikawa - (Triple Crown Title) [*** 3/4]
2. February 17, 2017 - Zeus & The Bodyguard (c) -vs- Kento Miyahara & Jake Lee - (AJPW Tag Title) [*** 1/2]
3. April 16, 2017 - Kento Miyahara -vs- Jake Lee - (Champion Carnival 2017 - Block A) [*** 1/2]
4. February 26, 2017 - Kento Miyahara (c) -vs- The Bodyguard - (Triple Crown Title) [*** 1/4]
5. April 23, 2017 - Kento Miyahara -vs- KAI - (Champion Carnival 2017 - Block A) [*** 1/4]
6. April 16, 2017 - KAI -vs- Zeus - (Champion Carnival 2017 - Block A) [*** 1/4]
7. April 30, 2017 - Kento Miyahara & Daisuke Sekimoto & Kengo Mashimo -vs- Zeus & Ryouji Sai & KAI [*** 1/4]
8. April 16, 2017 - Suwama -vs- Shuji Ishikawa - (Champion Carnival 2017 - Block B) [*** 1/4]
9. June 11, 2017 - Suwama -vs- Kento Miyahara [*** 1/4]
10. Janaury 3, 2017 - Zeus & The Bodyguard (c) -vs- Takao Omori & Manabu Soya - (AJPW Tag Title) [***]
11. June 11, 2017 - Shuji Ishikawa (c) -vs- Jake Lee - (Triple Crown Title) [***]
12. April 30, 2017 - Shuji Ishikawa -vs- Joe Doering - (Champion Carnival 2017 - Final) [***]
13. May 21, 2017 - Zeus & The Bodyguard (c) -vs- Kengo Mashimo & KAI - (AJPW Tag Title) [***]
14. February 17, 2017 - Keisuke Ishii -vs- Minoru Tanaka - (Jr. Battle of Glory - Block A) [***]

 

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Thanks! Eivion. Nice to see some of the old guard still active! 

I've also dug into NOAH, which was a more frustrating experience. They had a few good matches, but they are trapped in their old stagnant formula and stumbling bad trying to freshen up their act. Such a shame. They have real quality wrestlers, but there is something missing in transmission between what happens in the ring and what reaches the audience which is why they can barely fill 1/4th of the Korakuen Hall. Here are the ones I rated 3* and over:

 

1. January 21, 2017 - Go Shiozaki & Maybach Taniguchi (c) -vs- Masa Kitamiya & Kenou - (GHC Tag Title) [*** 1/4]
2. April 14, 2017 - Takashi Sugiura & Kenou (c) -vs- Naomichi Marufuji & Maybach Taniguchi - (GHC Tag Title) [*** 1/4]
3. March 12, 2017 - Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) -vs- Go Shiozaki - (GHC Title) [***]
4. January 7, 2017 - Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) -vs- Takashi Sugiura - (GHC Title) [***]
5. January 7, 2017 - Hajime Ohara -vs- Taiji Ishimori - (GHC Junior Title Decision Match) [***]
6. June 4, 2017 - Naomichi Marufuji & Maybach Taniguchi (c) -vs- Cody Hall & Randy Reign - (GHC Tag Title) [***]

 

Zero-1 has always been a mixed bag, but their January 1, 2017 show was good, and is definitely worth a look. Contains 3 of their best matches pre-Fire Festival. 

 

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3 hours ago, Ryan said:

I thought you were lost in a cave somewhere forever.

Ah, sounds peaceful, but no. Got married, had kids and watched a couple of movies. Things changed quite a bit for a few years, but with all the available wrestling online these days, the wrestling bug slowly got me again. Not sure yet what I'll follow, that's what I'm currently finding out, checking the promotions that I know to see where they're at in 2017. Will get to NJPW eventually. Not sure what to do about Big Japan. So many shows, but mainly the Strong BJ stuff interesting. Watched one Dragon Gate show... not seeing their shows for 6 years I can still call the spots, so hardly anything has changed there. Identical matches, identical stables. Might do their biggest shows. DDT... no. They were a direct source for me falling out of love with wrestling before so I'm staying away. Ibushi defending the title against a blow-up dull with the 5* formula was not as cool as it sounded. Joshi.... that's a landscape that's changed a lot last I saw. Not sure where or how deep I'll dig this time around. Then there is lucha, WWE and all that ambitious international indy stuff. But I have a feeling I might focus mostly on old school wrestling once I familiar myself on todays wrestling.

 

NOAH, I feel for them. You can see them trying. It's simply not working. Someone need to school them on how to connect with the audience instead of just letting them stiff each other randomly for 30 minutes. 

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Punq, and anyone else who's interested, since you seemed to truly enjoy AJPW's 2017, when time permits, I certainly can recommend going back one more year for Miyahara's entire title run.  One of the best title runs in any promotion in recent memory.  

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Hi everyone, first time poster here. 

Im looking to try and get back into puro - or at least New Japan. Wanted to see some semi-recent stuff before I decided to pay for the streaming service and I'm looking for your recommendations. Assume I am ignorant to modern NJPW.

Not followed it closely since 2004 or 2005 when Sasaki, Nagaga etc were on top and New Japan and NOAH juniors were feuding. I'm pretty sure the last major match I watched was Sasaki vs Kobashi so that's a helluva lot to catch up on wanted some match recommendations that will be easy to find on YouTube. 

Started today with Styles/Nakamura Jan 4th 16 as I assumed that would be a nice way to ease back into it, being familiar with both since then. I will be looking for the Omega/Okada matches too.

Thanks in advance.

 

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Spoiler

2006
1. KENTA / Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takeshi Rikio / Takeshi Morishima (NOAH; 7/16)
2. Giant Bernard vs. Yuji Nagata (NJPW; 4/30)
3. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Akira Taue (NOAH; 3/5)
4. Mitsuhara Misawa vs. Takeshi Morishima (NOAH; 3/5)
5. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW; 12/10)
6. Kaz Hayashi vs. Shuji Kondo (AJPW; 8/27)
7. Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Takashi Sasaki (BJW; 3/31)
8. Koji Kanemoto vs. Yuji Nagata (NJPW; 8/12)
9. Kenta Kobashi / Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiru Tenryu / Katsuhiko Nakajima (Kensuke Office; 2/11)
10. KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH; 10/29)

2007
1. Tanahashi vs Nagata, NJ 4/13 (19 votes, 452 points, 13 top 5 votes, 2 #1 votes)
2. Kobashi & Takayama vs Misawa & Akiyama, NOAH 12/2 (17 votes, 439 points, 13 top 5 votes, 7 #1 votes)
3. Tanahashi vs Hirooki Goto, NJ 11/11 (16 votes, 406 points, 12 top 5 votes, 2 #1 votes)
4. T. Sasaki vs Miyamoto, BJPW 3/14 (15 votes, 302 points, 8 top 5 votes, 3 #1 votes)
5. KENTA & Ishimori vs Marufuji & Ibushi, NOAH 7/15 (12 votes, 259 points, 10 top 5 votes, 1 #1 vote)
6. Nagata vs Makabe, NJ 7/6 (11 votes, 241 points, 7 top 5 votes, 1 #1 vote)
7. Akiyama & Rikio vs Takayama & Sugiura, NOAH 4/28 (14 votes, 238 points, 5 top 5 votes)
8. Muscle Outlaw'z vs Typhoon vs New Hazard, DG 6/5 (8 votes, 121 points, 1 top 5 vote)
9. Suzuki vs Mutoh, AJ 7/1 (5 votes, 121 points, 3 top 5 votes, 1 #1 vote)
10. Briscoe Brothers vs Marvin & Suzuki, NOAH 1/21 (6 votes, 119 points, 1 top 5 vote, 1 #1 vote)

2008
1. Mashimo & Madoka vs Teioh & Shinobu, Big Japan 5/23. 12 votes, 342 points
2. Ishikawa, Sawa & Otsuka vs Ikeda, Usuda & Super Tiger II, Battlarts 7/26. 14 votes, 341 points
3. Hidaka & Sawa vs Ishikawa & Yoshikawa, Battlarts 8/31. 15 votes, 304 points
4. Burning vs Kensuke Office Survival Match, KO/SEM 8/17. 12 votes, 303 points
5. Misawa vs Morishima, NOAH 3/2. 11 votes, 198 points.
6. Kobashi, Honda & Taniguchi vs Morishima, Marufuji & Sugiura, NOAH 2/21. 10 votes, 197 points.
7. Kobashi & KENTA vs Saski & Nakajima, NOAH 6/14. 11 votes, 178 points.
8. SHINGO & Hulk vs KENTA & Ishimori, Dragon Gate 3/20. 11 votes, 166 points
9. Tanahashi vs Suwama, All Japan 4/9. 10 votes, 163 points
10. Kobashi, Honda & KENTA vs Takayama, Sano & Aoki, NOAH 3/2. 9 votes, 160 points

2009
1. Sasaki & Nakajima vs Shiozaki & KENTA, NOAH June 22nd - 13 votes, 340 points
2. Miyamoto & T. Sasaki vs Isami Kodaka & Takeda, Big Japan March 26th - 12 votes, 295 points
3. Nakamura & Goto vs Misawa & Sugiura, New Japan January 4th - 18 votes, 274 points
4. Sugiura & Shiozaki vs Nakamura & Milano Collection AT, NOAH March 1st - 16 votes, 263 points
5. Kanemoto vs Hayato, New Japan December 22nd - 13 votes, 252 points
6. Akiyama vs KENTA, NOAH May 17th - 14 votes, 224 points
7. Nakajima vs KENTA, NOAH March 1st - 8 votes, 202 points
8. KENTA vs Suzuki, NOAH January 25th - 11 votes, 192 points
9. Goto & Okada vs Sugiura & Aoki, New Japan May 5th - 11 votes, 176 points
10. Tanahashi vs Nakamura, New Japan February 15th - 9 votes, 152 points

This board, in a previous incarnation, used to do a top puro matches of the year poll. I don't think those threads survive, but I managed to find the top ten from these years. None of this is recent per se, but would fill the gap a little bit. 

If you're interested in New Japan specifically, I think it's a good idea to follow the trajectory of a few important wrestlers in something like chronological order. At least that's what I've always found most compelling to me, since it keeps intact some bit of the narrative that was present at the time. For example, I don't know that Okada/Omega is as great without the context of their careers. Honestly, I really like getting on wikipedia, reading about the big moments in a guy's career, then watching them in order. That is, find what you can of Tanahashi as he ascends to the true ace of the company, Nakamura becoming Nakamura, Naito both before and after he became ungovernable, the (relative) failures of Goto and Shibata, Ishii going from just a guy to a popular top of the card staple, Omega's transformation from junior to heavyweight to tip-top gaijin, and of course Okada. 

I think last year's G1 is the most recent place to start that provides decent history. From a story perspective, it's important to watch Okada/Tanahashi, Omega/Naito, then Omega/Goto. Then, watch Shibata/Goto from the dome, Tanahashi/Naito, and Omega/Okada 1. Moving forward, watch Naito/Elgin, Naito/Juice, Naito/Tanahashi; Omega/Ishii from the New Japan Cup, Dontaku, and then the US title final; Okada/Suzuki, Okada/Shibata, Okada/Omega 2.

There are more good matches over the years than I could list--and even great and important matches from before the G1 during 2016--but, off the top of my head, that should be enough to get you acquainted with the present main event scene, if that's the goal.

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On 7/25/2017 at 4:11 PM, Evil Otto said:

Punq, and anyone else who's interested, since you seemed to truly enjoy AJPW's 2017, when time permits, I certainly can recommend going back one more year for Miyahara's entire title run.  One of the best title runs in any promotion in recent memory.  

Unfortunately I don't have planned to dive pre-2017 at the moment (unless it's back to the real classics era), but if I do, the rise of Miyahara would be high on the list. I liked him during his rookie years when he was a skinny kid. He had the talent back then, but I was worried his career couldn't take off for the lack of beef. Now all bulked up, he's carrying himself real nice as the current generation ace and following results it's made me happy that he made it!

 

Looks like I can't hold off NJPW any longer and will look into their 2017 catalog (once I'm finished with my puro diversion getting cheered up by the crumbling lucha libre world of AAA). Fuck, NJPW is getting massive hype at the moment with match ratings that only All Japan Women in their prime rivals. While I expect a lot of this is just the in-the-momentum buzz, I can see from the clips I've seen that NJPW has shaped up since I last saw them in 2010. I'm unsure how I'll take the indy invasion, because I was never much of a fan of the US indy scene, but if it gets the New Japan wrestlers working harder, then I'll be all for it. Going to be interesting, since even in their darkest times, they were one of my favorite promotions. 

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