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NJPW Sakura Genesis 4/9


Raziel

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Sakura Genesis 2017 - 4/9

Ryogoku Kokugikan - Tokyo

 

Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Championship

"Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) (c) vs. Katsoyura Shibata (2017 New Japan Cup Winner)

 

Semi-Final: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables de Japon) (c) vs. KUSHIDA

 

NEVER Openweight Championship

Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-gun)

 

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (c) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) (RoH)

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, "King of Darkness" EVIL & BUSHI)

 

CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toro Yano) vs. Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale)

 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Toshinobu Kanemaru) (c) vs. CHAOS (Jado & Gedo)

 

CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Rocky Romero & Baretta) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku)

 

Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask W & Tiger Mask IV vs. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)

 

Preshow: Manabu Nakanishi, Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger & David Finlay vs. Hirai Kawato, Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura

 

 

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29 minutes ago, Raziel403 said:

Not sure how Goto/ZSJ is gonna play.

This isn't really a match I'd wanted, as I'd hoped ZSJ was gonna fill out the thinner junior ranks. (And of course he could do that, eventually, as this is an openweight belt and all.) But it could be really good, if Goto steps up and beats him around the ring--basically, work like Hero did against ZSJ. Given he's mostly been playing the underachiever/underdog role for the past couple years, I think this could be an interesting opportunity to see him really work from out front. I don't want several "look how equally strong and tough we both are" strike exchanges and suplex spots. 

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The top four title matches and probably Ishii/Yano vs Omega/Fale are gonna get a watch from me.

Don't sleep on some of the 4/4 card stuff, either: LIJ defend the trios belts against Tanahashi/Ricochet/Taguchi, and also a weird-ass pairing of Ishii/Beretta taking on Omega/Fale.

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I think it'll work out. ZSJ is somebody I either really dig or really dislike, but his match against Shibata was excellent until the shenanigans put a stop to that. Plus, he's way better as a cocky heel (same with Ospreay) than as a plucky underdog. I can see Zack schooling Goto on the ground for a good while, just as he did to Shibata, before Goto starts to overpower him with strikes and throws.

Jado/Gedo will garner crowd support I'm guessing due to this being one of their last challenges. Jado's looking really slow out there. 

The rest of the card looks really promising. Saying that, and I know loyalty is a key part of Japanese society, there are some parts of the roster that need trimming badly. Suzuki-gun is stale as fuck already and they just returned. If I ever see another Iizuka match, it'll be way too soon. Keep Suzuki, Lance and DBS Jr. and let the rest go. Desperado is fine but provides nothing unique other than a neat mask. 

I hope War Machine wins but with Rowe likely off to NXT, it's doubtful. 

Unrelated to the card but Meng's other son has signed with New Japan. He makes Bad Luck Fale look like a child.

 ZRXuygC.jpg

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How long before they appear on NXT as the Meng Dynasty? Or do they just stick with WWF naming and have the Sons Of Haku? Either way, there's a Dusty Classic in their future.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just watched the trios title match. Good, fun, well-paced bout, but nothing blowaway.

Spoiler

However, if you want to see Ricochet execute BUSHI, there is that to look forward to!

Warning for those going through NJPW World - the result is effectively spoiled by one of the post-match thumbnails on the main page.

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They did that with the NJ Cup too. Whyyyyyy?

It's like Scurll tweeting out a shirt promoting his BOLA win shortly after the event and WELL before the show was released. Fuck that shit.

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I'm only up to the NEVER Title match, will finish it probably tomorrow.

 

I was totally right about TenKozy/War Machine being pretty damn good though.  I want some of what Gedo's smoking with running Robinson/Naito at Dontaku, and that's with me being a fan of Robinson's growth.

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Completely agree. His selling is so understated and fucking remarkable. The visual of him in the sleeper staring up to the ropes was goose bump inducing. Just perfect. I loved this match. 5/5, almost as good as the Omega Dome match. Both personalities were consistent throughout the entire match, the opening segments were actually more important in terms of storytelling than in the 1/4 match, the intensity was top drawer, and the finishing stretch was just remarkable in making both guys look like champs. When Shibata hit the sleeper suplex I was half expecting him to be the transitional champ bridging from Okada to Omega. Not to be, but he did himself a lot of good I'm sure. I hope he gets a title run in the next year before he starts to break down physically. 

Hiromu/KUSHIDA was fucking wild and I loved how they varied it up with the layout. Goto/ZSJ didn't live up to my expectations, which I'm sure were higher than anybody else's here, but it was good. The tag titles match was fantastic! War Machine have such good timing and know when to sell and when to just plow through their opponents. Junior tag titles are about as good as you're going to get out of a Taichi match. Sentimental fan favourites get fucked over by cheating cowards getting the heel team more heat and setting up the match with RPG Vice. Even the tag fillers were enjoyable. Great show!

I don't exactly love the idea of Fale getting a title shot here. He's capable of having good matches but I don't know if it's going to do him any favours being in this run of really high end, exceptional work from Okada. 

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3 hours ago, Charlie M. said:

Thought it was very necessary since it felt like they were trying to have Okada prove his toughness throughout the match. Like Roman/Brock but more competitive.

 

Headbutting someone so hard you draw blood isn't necessary.  Especially considering Shibata was apparently rushed to the hospital after collapsing backstage after the match.

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That's the one spot I feel like they could've done without but the blood trickle was a great visual. The other thing is if there were ever a time to make an exception it would be Shibata's one big chance and doubly so when he's in there with somebody who's supposed to be a bit of a soft touch relative to him and Ishii. 

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I don't know if I'd recommend that amount of stiffness ever but who am I to say, the visual with the blood trickling down his forehead made Shibata look like the world's biggest badass.  I enjoyed most of the match but I didn't like the finish..  I kind of wanted Okada to win with something other than the Rainmaker but I understand why they do it because he really was dominated for much of the match and its the only move where you can understand how he pulled it out.  I think they should have given Shibata a short reign though, the crowd was begging for it

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8 hours ago, mattdangerously said:

Headbutting someone so hard you draw blood isn't necessary.  Especially considering Shibata was apparently rushed to the hospital after collapsing backstage after the match.

He had a subdural hematoma and went into emergency surgery.

 

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Yeah, that's bad, stop doing that, that can kill you. No more shoot headbutts to the head for no reason. Now go headbutt ring posts on purpose like Fujiwara did. That's the type of injury that killed Masakazu Fukuda back in 2000, coincidentally in a match with Shibata. It wasn't some super stiff thing.

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Knowing him? Probably. Note, this is basically the same injury that killed Plum Mariko and others. Nothing to fuck around with. Varies in severity and type obviously, but it's always bad. Kills a shit ton of boxers too. Variations as well.

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Loved the tag match.  Tencozy did exactly what they had to do and then some, and War Machine continue to look great.  I like Rowe and the team, but Hanson is a special talent.  Surprised he's not the one the WWE is clamoring for, other than having already been in and out of the system.  If you took the under on the 0.5 defenses, congratulations!

Hated the opening to the NEVER bout, with Goto going along with ZSJ's opening shtick while looking like he could deadlift him and throw him through the mat at any time.  But ZSJ settled into his probing, ripping, tearing mode, which makes him look infinitely better than when he's going for tests of strength and the standard matwork exhibition bullshit, and then it was pretty cathartic when Goto did actually deadlift him en route to the finish.  Could have done without the Suzuki-gun run-in, but the heel stable stuff is what it is at this point, and sets us up nice for Goto/Suzuki.

Holy shit at the junior title match.  Never would have thought we'd see Hiromu effectively squashing KUSHIDA.  My first thought was things were getting cut short after KUSHIDA took that ugly snap bump to the floor on the diving sunset flip powerbomb, but he probably wouldn't have been blasted with Hiromu's repertoire if so.  (Except, you know. Japan.)  The Ricochet match should be excellent.

I fucking loved the main event.  Fantastic pro wrestling.  Will absolutely be one of my favorite matches of the year.  And then the finish came.  Okada is a wonderful talent, but the booking is making everyone else look ridiculous with him increasingly looking totally outclassed by his challengers, but always being able to finisher spam his way out.  There were so many great moments in this thing though.  Shibata twice working his way to full mount in the opening exchange and taunting Okada as if to say there's nothing you can do that I won't let happen.  Okada going full heel on his clean break spot and refusing to break a hold later on, and the crowd COMPLETELY turning on him in kind, and then COMPLETELY getting behind Shibata on his countering exchanges.  Shibata staying on his feet for the first flash Rainmaker.  More so than the Omega bout, more so than getting thoroughly worked over by Suzuki for like 40 minutes, EVERYTHING in this match pointed to Shibata outclassing Okada in every phase of the game as an IWGP Heavyweight champ, except the outcome.  Really deflating result.  But at least we get to see Okada beat Fale again now because ???????????

I've been beating the drum for a while on how ugly and unnecessary Shibata's unwavering commitment to absurd stiffness continues to be, so I echo the sentiments of everyone else here.  At the very least that hardway headbutt needs to be gone forever.

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