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NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome 1/4/2018


Raziel

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Nothing much to add that hasn't already been said, but I'm watching this in batches (6 hours, jesus...) and the commentary is atrocious. Like, make me hate matches I'd otherwise like bad. Who decided that Kevin Fucking Kelly should have a 20+ year career as a professional announcer. I don't want to insult Callis because of Winnipeg, but it's just a bad scene all around.

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I'm surprised you don't appreciate Don. I thought he did a great job as usual despite fake/forced epic Kelly. Callis gets the talent over as well as himself and I don't think his jocular tone really hurts the matches because he knows when to dial it down and build up the danger of matches. 

But, yeah, I too question the longevity of Kevin Kelly. I'm sure he's a nice guy and the wrestlers seem to really like him, but it speaks to just how dire wrestling commentating is when this guy is considered one of the best and has worked for the three biggest companies in the world. 

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This was my first ever Japanese show. I’ve only seen a handful of NJPW matches over the years. 

Despite it being long as hell I was always entertained. A lot of commentary-bashing but (Dave meltzer 5/6 stars discussion aside) I preferred it to Michael Cole by an absolute mile. 

Also getting bashed is the Jnr 4-way, but my girlfriend was in the room for that and she really enjoyed it. So maybe it’s not something for the purists but it certainly has its place. I quite liked it, wouldn’t want to see a whole card like it but one match was fun. 

My favourite match was the hair match. Considering I’d never seen either of these dudes before, I really bought into the story (partly thanks to Kelly and Callis). 

I’m really sold on NJPW and even watched New Year Dash today. I’ve not seen Raw for a long time, WWE PPVs have bored the hell out of me for a while now (even though I still have a network sub and will watch the rumble), so NJPW has an opportunity to hook me in long term for my wrestling fix. 

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I think a lot of us were upset with the 4-way junior title match because we know all of them are capable of way better. Kushida looked out of place in what is a foreign environment for him. Most of us were pulling for HIROMU to get the big win after being made to look the fool for so many months. Ospreay and Scurll carried the match in large chunks, and while I think Ospreay is usually great and Scurll has the potential to be great and will eventually put it together, they aren't on the same level as the two natives and the match was really clunky and disjointed. It was the only match of the night that felt like it dragged and went long. Everything else flew by.

There have been dozen of classic matches the past 3-5 years (particularly 2017 though), so enjoy going through the back catalog through NJPW's slow January period if you can find the time.

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He does. The four big matches to come out of NYD were SANADA challenging Okada (they have a better match in them than their G1 bout, so I'm hoping they deliver), EVIL challenging Goto for the NEVER title, Jericho/Naito, and White challenging Omega for the US title. Oh, it sounds like Hiromu will challenge Ospreay for the Jr. title.

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36 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

He does. The four big matches to come out of NYD were SANADA challenging Okada (they have a better match in them than their G1 bout, so I'm hoping they deliver), EVIL challenging Goto for the NEVER title, Jericho/Naito, and White challenging Omega for the US title. Oh, it sounds like Hiromu will challenge Ospreay for the Jr. title.

I remember SANADA's "debut" at Invasion Attack 2016. I wasn't familiar with him but he looked like a big deal. Then less than a month later, he lost clean to Okada in a lackluster match that Okada slept walk through. That's shitty booking I remember saying about New Japan for the first time since I started following closely.

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I still think his best moment since joining New Japan is the G1 victory over Tanahashi. Guy looked like a million dollars, a reincarnation of Mutoh in some ways (which he's obviously going for). He hasn't been able to recapture that magic but he's got the capability to do so. I think he needs to find a way of better expressing his charisma. The stone faced punk shtick has reached its ceiling, it's time for an evolution of Sanada.

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I think Sanada and Okada can do something really good. The challenge is, though: Okada’s biggest strength has been letting his opponent dictate the style and pace of the match, while he never really feels like an underdog. I don’t really know what a “Sanada match” is, at this point, but hopefully they do, and highlight it.

I also love the setup. Naito casually handing Okada off is just such a boss move. Normally, he should have to fight through Chaos’ lieutenants to prove he’s worthy of another crack at Okada. Instead, he’s saying Okada needs to beat Sanada—like he did EVIL—before Naito will bother challenging again. Basically: Naito said before Wrestle Kindgom that was already the top star, and even though he lost, this is his way of reaffirming that.

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15 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

So the whole thing is six hours? Guess it will be in full tomorrow on AXS then. *sigh* Those bathroom breaks are gonna have to be so short...

Also, my reviews will probably be more abbreviated than usual

The axs broadcast is only three hours, with commercial breaks. They will show clips from every match, and the top matches in their entirety. 

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20 hours ago, Craig H said:

Okada's pants were fucking awesome. That is some Jin Kazama from Tekken type shit. Made me wish that Gedo had cosplayed as Heihachi. I mean, just look at those two! Gedo better be careful. Okada may throw him into a volcano at some point.

but Okada is the second King from Tekken. 

Did find out a while ago that  Minoru was the mocap guy for the first King.

 

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