sevendaughters Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 two matches announced thus far, thanks to purolove.com NJPW "KING OF PRO-WRESTLING", 09.10.2017 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) -. Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii -. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. "King of Darkness" EVIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 so, I can't help feeling that EVIL's spot is what Shibata would have been doing had he not mightily self-owned - a win in the G1 and a rubber match here. But EVIL has shown glimpses of a future at the top of the card so I'm really pleased for him. Naito-Ishii also easy to call but should be a great top card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Wait, so Naito wins a grueling G1 for the contendership and they just throw it all up in the air against Ishii? Storyline-wise, if I was Naito, I'd be PISSED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belgian_Waffle Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Has anyone ever lost their title shot in one of these matches? I always found it to be a weird stip. I guess they wanted to establish them as customary in case they ever whiff in their G1 booking and have somebody who's not over win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 2 minutes ago, Belgian_Waffle said: Has anyone ever lost their title shot in one of these matches? I always found it to be a weird stip. I guess they wanted to establish them as customary in case they ever whiff in their G1 booking and have somebody who's not over win. not since they introduced it. it would be so huge if they did it (it's a good contingency if the G1 winner gets injured too, or is just flatly rejected) but clearly they're not doing it here where Ishii has two wins over Naito in 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Sweetser Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 9 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said: Wait, so Naito wins a grueling G1 for the contendership and they just throw it all up in the air against Ishii? Storyline-wise, if I was Naito, I'd be PISSED. It was already known before the G1 that the winner would put the title shot up for grabs at least once. Naito said in a post-G1 interview (The Lion Marks were nice enough to translate) that he chose Ishii for the defense, and that he was only doing one so there'd actually be intrigue over the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Ah, thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Kind of cheapens the tournament if they continue to run with the idea that the winner challenges for the title at the Tokyo Dome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Also didn't Fale beat Naito as well? Usually everyone who beats the winner gets a shot at the briefcase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 9 hours ago, alstein said: Also didn't Fale beat Naito as well? Usually everyone who beats the winner gets a shot at the briefcase. Possible for Power Struggle in November? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Last year, Omega defended against Yoshi-hashi at Destruction and then against Goto at KOPW. So if Naito is defending a second time, they're running behind that schedule. An aside: If anyone is to win the G1 but then lose the briefcase, it's definitely going to be Goto, right? Not that I expect this to happen, but it seems a burden he's... umm... uniquely "gifted" to endure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belgian_Waffle Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Not to get too far off topic but what are the chances at this point of Goto ever winning the IWGP title? I feel like the time to do it was when Nakamura was champ in 2010...that's 7 years ago. Not even Tenzan had this much time between his prime and finally winning the belt, and I don't even really count Nakanishi's token win as an example of this sort of thing happening since he dropped the title back so fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 If Goto ever wins, it's a Nakanishi reign. He's failed too much, and there's too many guys ahead of him now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 No way does Goto ever win it. Even if Omega leaves and Okada gets injured he's not getting in the mix. Just too much baggage and not over enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 In the event of another exodus, I think it's at least possible, but still unlikely. Even if Omega and/or Okada do head to WWE (and I'll believe neither ever will until the bitter end), Ibushi decides he'd rather do... whatever it is that he does, Shibata never comes back... you've still got Ishii, EVIL, Naito, Fale, maybe Juice and Sanada by then, Elgin... and who knows what polishable gems WWE might let drop. Rusev? To digress further: If Kojima can (maybe) get a Triple Crown shot on the heels of a one-win G1, could Goto perhaps win one of Japan's other two "big" belts? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 Goto would be a star in NOAH or All Japan, definitely. A credible working champ. If I was Akiyama I'd get him in...and feed him to Miyahara. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Honestly, I'd really like to see that. Akiyama is uniquely qualified to book a "failed would-be ace, more known for his losses than his wins, striving to make good in the twilight of his prime" story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belgian_Waffle Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 As long as he was slowly built up in AJPW I'd be cool with it. If he showed up and beat everyone right away it would make the AJPW guys look too weak. The one guy I would LOVE to see jump to AJPW is Ishii, so many awesome new matchups right away with him and I think he has a lot more star power than Goto if he were to just walk in and win the TC right away. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iron Yuppie Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 If I was Omega or Okada, I'd look at Nakamura jobbing to Jinder Mahal and say, "Maybe I'll wait until I have a year or two left in the tank before I go take that Fuck Money." Even then, I feel like Goto's behind a number of people currently, with some guys on the ascent like EVIL, SANADA, Ibushi (if he decides to hang out with NJPW for a while). To @Beech27's point: Dear God, I hope Rusev shows up in NJPW sooner than later. I look at the turnaround a guy like Juice has had with New Japan, and that's with a much weaker foundation coming in. Rusev would be amazing as a monster gaijin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 1 minute ago, Belgian_Waffle said: The one guy I would LOVE to see jump to AJPW is Ishii, so many awesome new matchups right away with him and I think he has a lot more star power than Goto if he were to just walk in and win the TC right away. yeah this would be dope. Ishii has that cool factor that Goto doesn't, both in the west and in Japan, and I sense that liking AJPW is becoming something that is spreading to wrestling media influencers from the insane people who were loyal all along, and could stand to spread further... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belgian_Waffle Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Yeah! Exactly. If they brought in Ishii, rehired Soya full time and officially signed Sekimoto and Okabayashi away from BJW then AJPW would be one bruiser brigade of a #2 promotion. Sidenote: what was the logic anyway in putting Goto in the finals with Kenny last year? Did Gedo just want to gauge the crowd reaction to see if the people were willing to get behind Hirooki one more time if they put him up against Okada on a grand stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 I'm not sure. Maybe to protect the bigger names from a potentially unpopular winner? That way you can do the briefcase drop angle and you haven't burned Okada, Tanahashi, etc. Maybe also to give Goto the full set of runners-up for 2016 (he failed in bids for IWGP, ROH title, and lost in the NJ Cup final). I thought it was a nice bit of booking with Tanahashi & Okada taking each other out with the broadway. Assuming they book the blocks the same, you think Marufuji would give a good match but then you've got foreigner vs. invader. Ishii would have probably given you a better match with less damage to his own run. Fale is inter-faction and a bit of a turn-off. SANADA was too soon and Makabe is a no thanks. It might have been a great Tenzan's Last Stand but ultimately I think Goto wasn't a bad shout. Okada had the title, Tanahashi was working a back injury angle too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 1 hour ago, sevendaughters said: I'm not sure. Maybe to protect the bigger names from a potentially unpopular winner? That way you can do the briefcase drop angle and you haven't burned Okada, Tanahashi, etc. Maybe also to give Goto the full set of runners-up for 2016 (he failed in bids for IWGP, ROH title, and lost in the NJ Cup final). I thought it was a nice bit of booking with Tanahashi & Okada taking each other out with the broadway. Assuming they book the blocks the same, you think Marufuji would give a good match but then you've got foreigner vs. invader. Ishii would have probably given you a better match with less damage to his own run. Fale is inter-faction and a bit of a turn-off. SANADA was too soon and Makabe is a no thanks. It might have been a great Tenzan's Last Stand but ultimately I think Goto wasn't a bad shout. Okada had the title, Tanahashi was working a back injury angle too. If I had to guess, I think this--and what follows--is pretty much right on. Even having been around for it, I can't quite force myself to remember just how big of a risk "Kenny Omega, main event heavyweight" felt like at the time. (And I liked him!) Frankly, I've always wondered if the G1 win wasn't slotted for Styles, and just passed down to Omega to avoid moving everyone else around too much. If he bombed, Goto was a reliable soldier, ready to be a replacement level substitute. If Omega took off, though... well, we would get what we got. (Though I suspect the reality is better even than anyone in the office dared hope.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 Exactly. Not long before winning Omega was still doing that chainsaw arm thing. He could have bombed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 On Goto: the novelty of a title win and payoff to the story would be enough for a single-defense reign. Not that far off from what happened with Chono. On the "briefcase": Horrible. Telegraphed, as nobody should ever lose it. I don't even like the whole "G1 winner gets to main the Dome" stipulation as it's A) Clearly meant to rip off both the Royal Rumble and MITB and B) waaay too far out. It's weird, though. The nature of the long-ass G1 tournament lends itself to the late summer (like baseball, I guess). The guaranteed title shot thing does build drama that elevates the Dome Show main event. On Kenny's Win: Oh yeah that shit was for AJ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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