RIPPA Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 AJ STYLES 1st Round 2nd Round TETSUYA NAITO 1st Round 2nd Round
The Man Known as Dan Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I like Naito better then any other New Japan guy in this tournament by a pretty good margin. He aint fucking beating Styles though. 3
Cyanide Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I'd really be interested to see how both of these guys would do comparatively in their current form with either AJ still in NJPW, or Naito in WWE (or at least NXT, so he doesn't find himself working Main Event with Titus O'Neil within the first three weeks). Styles is a monster, but his top matches for me from the past year (vs Reigns at Extreme Rules, vs Cena at SummerSlam) don't touch Naito's (vs Omega in the Block B finale, vs Elgin last month, probably vs Tanahashi at WK11), and (at least anything other than the Reigns match) would probably be more on par with what I'd put on the next tier down for Naito (the other two Elgin matches, vs Ishii for the title, the better of the two Okada matches). Naito's work both inside the ring and out has been incredible, and he owned 2016 and the early part of this year for me. I don't doubt he's gonna get routed here, or even that in a vacuum I'd have a hard time picking him over Styles as the total package, but to me he's got the goods to get the nod here given their respective work over the period. 3
The Natural Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 Tough bracket. I really like Tetsuya Naito, but AJ Styles gets my vote. This would be a worthy final.
Beech27 Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 26 minutes ago, Cyanide said: Styles is a monster, but his top matches for me from the past year (vs Reigns at Extreme Rules, vs Cena at SummerSlam) don't touch Naito's (vs Omega in the Block B finale, vs Elgin last month, probably vs Tanahashi at WK11), and (at least anything other than the Reigns match) would probably be more on par with what I'd put on the next tier down for Naito (the other two Elgin matches, vs Ishii for the title, the better of the two Okada matches). Naito's work both inside the ring and out has been incredible, and he owned 2016 and the early part of this year for me. I don't doubt he's gonna get routed here, or even that in a vacuum I'd have a hard time picking him over Styles as the total package, but to me he's got the goods to get the nod here given their respective work over the period. Pretty much mirrors my feelings exactly. I think Styles benefits from carrying a week-to-week show, and he should! He hasn't really had a bad day at the office in a year, which is basically impossible. But Naito's highs are really high, and there are a lot of them. He's been remarkably consistent too; the New Japan schedule is just different. I'm also among those who didn't really care for the Styles/Cena series. So... I'm going to have to think about this one for a bit. I'm probably leaning Naito, and he'll probably lose, which will be ok, because Styles had an incredible year. But it's close, to me.
SolidGoldBomb Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 Damn this is a tough one for Naito, I'd take him over about everyone in this tournament not named AJ Styles. 1
Spritenaut 32 Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 With almost any other draw, I'd be voting Naito. Tough to vote anyone over AJ this year. 2
The Natural Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 1 hour ago, SolidGoldBomb said: Damn this is a tough one for Naito, I'd take him over about everyone in this tournament not named AJ Styles. 1 hour ago, Horton Hears a Wooo!!! said: With almost any other draw, I'd be voting Naito. Tough to vote anyone over AJ this year. This x2. 1
NikoBaltimore Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I like Naito a ton but went with AJ. Though if I knew he'd be blown out this badly so far I would have done a sympathy vote for sure.
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 These at the best two in the world right now. Tough draw for Naito, he's the best heel in the biz outside of The Miz. AJ Styles is a great heel too but a better overall performer than anyone else in this tournament. Do watch Naito/Omega and Naito/Elgin. Great stuff.
Jiji Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 Neither are good heels! Even less so AJ, because at least Naito is a prick but they both get cheered a bunch. LIJ sells a shitload of merchandise. AJ doesn't wrestle like a heel and a lot of the criticisms Matt was throwing at Seth last year, for working a babyface style as a heel, apply equally to AJ. Sure, AJ throws in stalling and other heel tactics but he's doing springboard 450s to the outside and all these other insane, fan pleasing moves.
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I've never agreed with that viewpoint that heels can't do high flying moves. Neville does flashy shit too and he's been a wonderful heel since coming back and everyone seems to agree with that. Naito literally doesn't d anything that SHOULD be crowd pleasing.. he's not even trying to be cool like a Hall or Nash. If the crowd wants to cheer this despicable character so be it. He's spitting on people, he's trolling by NOT ding flashy moves, he's flipping off the fans, he'll do little things like walk up to a fan to shake his hand and then turn away... he's trashing the I.C. belt, what else could he do. People love it. AJ should turn face, I'll agree with that.
Jiji Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 Naito does quite a bit of flashy shit and didn't drop a lot of his babyface arsenal. He's a vile character, I won't disagree, but he's done a poor job in actually making it work to get booed beyond the initial few months and the Shibata feud.
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 I guess we'll disagree on this but I think the only heel who is on this level that is never cheered is The Miz. Owens is getting booed now but he spent the majority of his universal run being cheered. It's a different time now with these live crowds. 1
Jiji Posted March 13, 2017 Posted March 13, 2017 The Drifter, man. The Drifter is the best heel in 2016. He does nothing but elicits huge boos. 3
OSJ Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 The best heel in the world against arguably the best wrestler in the world. The thing is, who do I make it a point to always watch? I know what I'm going to get with AJ, it's exquisite to be sure, but the dude hasn't surprised me in a long time. I set an alarm for NJPW when Naito is going to be on because I'm never sure what that crazy mofo is going to do. AJ is going to win this easily, but not with my vote.
Raziel Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 So, since it only hit today, AJ's views on NASA fall outside the voting period, right?
Beech27 Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 23 minutes ago, Raziel403 said: So, since it only hit today, AJ's views on NASA fall outside the voting period, right? For fun, the relevant quote: Spoiler "I just find it interesting. I watch all the stuff about aliens. I'm a sci-fi guy. I just enjoy that stuff and conspiracy theories. That intrigues me, so there are just a number of things. I could have killed Daniel Bryan for saying that because now you get all this stuff. 'God, shut up! Please don't get that started because I'll never hear the end of it.' But it's interesting. But I find a lot things interesting when it comes to science fiction or fact. I don't know. Who can say? The only person that ever told me or told the world that other planets exist is NASA, but there's a reason for all… they're making a lot of money, a lot of money. They have a lot of money coming in. NASA is not an American thing. It's a world thing. A lot of people don't know that, so when you start asking questions, there are not a lot of answers sometimes." Anyway Styles is a wrestling genius. As for the rest of it... well, he's not a Stardust Genius--not that Naito is any longer--but I'd love to see him get a main event run on Ancient Aliens.
Jiji Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 33 minutes ago, Beech27 said: For fun, the relevant quote: Hide contents "I just find it interesting. I watch all the stuff about aliens. I'm a sci-fi guy. I just enjoy that stuff and conspiracy theories. That intrigues me, so there are just a number of things. I could have killed Daniel Bryan for saying that because now you get all this stuff. 'God, shut up! Please don't get that started because I'll never hear the end of it.' But it's interesting. But I find a lot things interesting when it comes to science fiction or fact. I don't know. Who can say? The only person that ever told me or told the world that other planets exist is NASA, but there's a reason for all… they're making a lot of money, a lot of money. They have a lot of money coming in. NASA is not an American thing. It's a world thing. A lot of people don't know that, so when you start asking questions, there are not a lot of answers sometimes." Anyway Styles is a wrestling genius. As for the rest of it... well, he's not a Stardust Genius--not that Naito is any longer--but I'd love to see him get a main event run on Ancient Aliens. I love the denial of being a flat earther and shit is "I don't know... Like, I don't know though." Were they only to apply this sort of skepticism elsewhere in their lives. And he even sounds like POTUS with the " a lot of money" repetition. Just missing a "sad."
Sublime Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 Naito doesn't deserve to be blown out here. I'm not saying he deserves to win but this is a far closer match-up than the votes show. Both guys have had a fantastic year, going back to watch Naito's work from last year is amazing. I wasn't in love with AJ's matches with Cena, but I did get to watch his heel turn on Cena in person which was amazing and easily the highlight of Raw that night. I'm voting for Naito, partly because it shouldn't be a blow out and partly because I'm not sure if he didn't actually have a better year last year. 1
The Man Known as Dan Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 4 hours ago, Sublime said: Naito doesn't deserve to be blown out here. I'm not saying he deserves to win but this is a far closer match-up than the votes show. Both guys have had a fantastic year, going back to watch Naito's work from last year is amazing. I wasn't in love with AJ's matches with Cena, but I did get to watch his heel turn on Cena in person which was amazing and easily the highlight of Raw that night. I'm voting for Naito, partly because it shouldn't be a blow out and partly because I'm not sure if he didn't actually have a better year last year. It's not a matter of if this is close, it's a matter of how many people feel like AJ wins, even if it is close. There is no way anyone can conceivably tell me that Naito was a clear winner here. You can argue he has a very good case, but it's not an obvious one.
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 Given some of the folks who are in prominent roles in this nation, I'm not sure it's even right to make fun of AJ's views. There's crazier things coming out of our own government.
Cristobal Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 TURN THE THREAD AROUND NOW OH LOOK IT'S AJ STYLES VS NAITO FROM WK9 NO IT'S NOT IN THE TIME PERIOD YES IT'S ONLY HIGHLIGHTS WATCH IT ANYWAY
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 14, 2017 Posted March 14, 2017 I liked AJ's shorter hair/beard/scumbag look he had going in Japan. His hair on SDL is wonderful don't get me wrong but... 1
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