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Puroresu General Discussion for 2018


Kevin Wilson

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59 minutes ago, Beech27 said:

2) Nakajima is just about my favorite guy. I know the Nakamura comparisons are too easy. I know. And yet... he's the prodigy that was always just a bit too bland to be loved, got a weird haircut, became sleazy, and discovered a deep well of elitist scumbag charisma.

This part made me seek out the match and Nakajima looks so rad now. Gives off a real LIJ vibe. Not sure about Kiyomiya's semi-tribute act or his tragic young boy soul patch, but this a good match worth checking out. 

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Tokyo Sports 2018 Awards are out.

MVP: Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW)

MOTY: Omega vs Okada Dominion 6.9 (NJPW)

Tag team: Violent Giants (Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa) (AJPW)

Outstanding Performance: Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH)

Fighting spirit: Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH)

Technical: Tetsuya Naito (NJPW)

Joshi: Tsukasa Fujimoto (Ice Ribbon)

Rookie: Utami Hayashita (Stardom)

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Especially since... well, I would say Misawa still hangs over the promotion metaphorically, but they put a giant poster up all the time, so it’s more literal than that. I think there are interesting things to be done with him versus Kenoh and those who think NOAH should essentially severe themselves from that past, especially since Shiozaki struggled being neo-Kobashi himself. It’s also probably too early for Kiyomiya to win the title, but he’s already lost one challenge, so...

Naito winning the technical award doesn’t make any sense to me, considering his style and the in-ring year he’s had. But he’s too big of a star to giving nothing to, I guess.

And getting back to NOAH: Sugiura deserves the performance award way more than Marafuji. 

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Kind of surprised Fujimoto won the joshi award, but I haven't paid attention to Ice Ribbon in a long while. Figured it would be a Stardom talent or TJPW talent if anyone won. Utami taking the rookie award is no surprise with the big push she has been given.

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16 hours ago, FlaeBlazer said:

Tokyo Sports 2018 Awards are out.

MVP: Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW)

MOTY: Omega vs Okada Dominion 6.9 (NJPW)

Tag team: Violent Giants (Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa) (AJPW)

Outstanding Performance: Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH)

Fighting spirit: Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH)

Technical: Tetsuya Naito (NJPW)

Joshi: Tsukasa Fujimoto (Ice Ribbon)

Rookie: Utami Hayashita (Stardom)

I'd have gone with Kazuchika Okada for MVP.  The right match won MOTY.

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I'm assuming Okada/Omega, Okada/Tana (all of them), and Ibushi/Tana will top most of these lists, so I'm essentially allowing everything else. So, not terribly obscure, but my pick would be Sugiura's GHC defense against Nakajima, though all the former's defenses (and his win over Kenoh) deserve mentioning. I'll only allow myself one explicit "runner up" mention for Ishii/Ibushi (my most-watched match, and probably my favorite--please don't ask how that differs from "best"), which I think will get lost in the G1 glut and bigger matches both guys had. Otherwise, I deleted all the other stuff I mentioned, because choosing everything is choosing nothing.

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I can't imagine that match being tamer than their last one, which made me wince way too much.

It's great to see NOAH, AJPW, and obviously NJPW loaded with talent and trending in a positive direction when it looked like the former was about to shut down not that long ago and AJPW was a sinking ship. My body is ready for another golden age of Japanese wrestling (which NJPW is already in). What the hell does NJPW have to do to get more time on Asahi and not in a graveyard time slot? It's so weird that World Pro Wrestling would air so late and they cut All Japan's TV in the early-to-mid '90s when business was still either super hot or even better than the '80s at least in terms of ticket sales.

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That they’re such natural rivals is why it strikes me as... soon. Like neither guy should lose. Surly kick-man, a kinda flabby 5’7 junior who worked his way up from Michinoku Pro and rejects NOAH’s nostalgia versus the chiseled chosen babyfaced prodigy who literally wears that past and openly idolizes it. It’s great! And there are other big defenses too: Shiozaki, who sorta failed when trying to be the next Kobashi; and Marafuji, who is Marafuji. And I’ll be needing an Akiyama challenge too, the man who beat the real Misawa for that very belt.

But if Kenoh is the antagonist for the next few years... well, I guess we’ll see. It is certainly cool to feel invested again. 

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