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NJPW New Beginning 2017 2/5 & 2/11


Raziel

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I liked pretty much all the main singles bouts for various reasons but watching Ospreay/Shibata and I'm not sure what the hell I saw Ospreay do on the outside there but it was fucking crazy. Actually, that might have been my favorite match of the two events.  I'm into contrast of styles and Shibata in some ways reigned Ospreay in it was very enjoyable. 

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If you didn't watch their build-up in the 8 man tags starting on New Year's Dash, I recommend checking them out. Those two have fantastic chemistry.

I loved Elgin vs. Naito with the only thing bothering me was the string of powerbombs right at the end being kicked out of. I guess Elgin's moving towards the Burning Hammer being his regular finisher now, as the spiral bomb is pretty much dead after Naito kicked out of that (preceded by the guardrail and apron powerbombs). Other than that, they paced the match very well and kept it interesting. It probably would've been a bit better if they shaved off 5 minutes off but compared to Hiromu/Lee and Okada/Suzuki, it was the best in terms of pacing and sequencing. Elgin in New Japan is a revelation when you look at how his worst tendencies are minimized. Naito's selling was fantastic 99% of the time. I have it a touch ahead of Shibata/Ospreay, but those two matches were fucking great and should be watched by anybody with even a half-interest in New Japan.

Between this and the 1/4 main event, if this is the direction the company is going towards, the young lions better be as awesome as I think they are (HENARE!) because there's no way this is sustainable for the guys in their mid-to-late 30s.

Anybody listen to the English commentary? If so, how was Cyrus? I enjoyed his managerial work and he was pretty enjoyable back in ECW, though I was a teenager at the time and I have no idea how that's aged.

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4 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

I've officially given up on English commentary.  I can't do Kevin Kelly anymore. He makes Michael Cole sound like Gus Johnson. I had a lot of fun with the Japanese commentary anyway, they had Okada on and at one point during Takahashi and Dragon Lee they were just going bonkers.

Gedo yelling "shit" after each big spot was great.

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I wonder if Cyrus having the flu (according to his commentary) kinda kept him more low-key, but I really liked him. He was much more enjoyable than Corino. I think Corino and Kelly are two guys who kinda bring out the worst in each other. A little too much joking around.

Elgin-Naito was fun except for the occasional lapses in selling the knee by Elgin. That's a problem with working the knee anyway - so much offense is based on it that it's hard to sell without majorly affecting pretty much every move. I know there's fighting spirit and all, but for him to go from "my knee is so hurt I can't pull off this move" to sprinting across the ring right back to "my knee is so hurt I can't pull off this move" was a bit jarring. Still, was a really good match.

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Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin, I gave the full five.

When did Tetsuya Naito change to wearing a skull mask, three piece suit in his entrance, disrespecting the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and spitting at people? Meant to ask when I watched Naito vs. Omega in the G1 Cimax 2016, first match I'd seen of his since against Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Thanks.

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id-2015 ish.  

4 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin, I gave the full five.

When did Tetsuya Naito change to wearing a skull mask, three piece suit in his entrance, disrespecting the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and spitting at people? Meant to ask when I watched Naito vs. Omega in the G1 Cimax 2016, first match I'd seen of his since against Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Thanks.

Mid-2015.  Naito was sent to Mexico for awhile and teamed with Sombra as part of CMLL's Los Ingobernables heel stable.  When he came back from Mexico, he turned heel in NJ and formed Los Ingobernables de Japon and underwent a complete character overhaul.

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15 minutes ago, Horton Hears a Wooo!!! said:

id-2015 ish.  

Mid-2015.  Naito was sent to Mexico for awhile and teamed with Sombra as part of CMLL's Los Ingobernables heel stable.  When he came back from Mexico, he turned heel in NJ and formed Los Ingobernables de Japon and underwent a complete character overhaul.

Thank you!

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2 hours ago, Horton Hears a Wooo!!! said:

Mid-2015.  Naito was sent to Mexico for awhile and teamed with Sombra as part of CMLL's Los Ingobernables heel stable.  When he came back from Mexico, he turned heel in NJ and formed Los Ingobernables de Japon and underwent a complete character overhaul.

I have never seen somebody flip the switch to both having and getting "it" like I did with Naito there. Went from generic babyface who was technically fine but had the personality of a dish cloth to being one of the best on the planet. 

Roman Reigns has the potential if they were to turn him heel and have him open up on the fans a bit. But that's doubtful because merchandise or some shit. 

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13 hours ago, The Natural said:

Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin, I gave the full five.

When did Tetsuya Naito change to wearing a skull mask, three piece suit in his entrance, disrespecting the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and spitting at people? Meant to ask when I watched Naito vs. Omega in the G1 Cimax 2016, first match I'd seen of his since against Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Thanks.

Oh my god, I envy you, you have a lot of wonderfully bizarre entertainment to catch up on when it comes to being up to speed with Naito.  Enjoy!

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Watched Naito-Elgin last night, and yep, 5 stars. I might like it more than Okada-Omega. 

I might be a prisoner of the moment, or maybe it's because with NJPW World, I'm getting far more exposure to it, but this era of New Japan might be producing more great stuff than early-to-mid-2000s NOAH. I'll admit, I had to piecemeal my NOAH viewing through file-sharing at the time. That said, getting caught up on the last year of NJPW and watching now, this might be the most compelling wrestling I've ever watched. 

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