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Puroresu General Discussion for 2018


Kevin Wilson

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You guys should catch the Kaito vs. Sugiura match from the NOAH show. It’s really fantastic. One of the best Sugi title matches in this reign and definitely the best match of Kaito’s career. And it wasn’t even the match of the night...

The Junior Heavyweight Title match between Kotaro Suzuki and Daisuke Harada is must watch shit. One of the best Junior matches that I’ve seen in all of wrestling this year. That match is nuts.

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That was a really generous performance from Sugiura. Let’s himself get outquicked and outclassed from the bell, and really only stays in it—and ahead, for a bit—by virtue of his hard head and forearms. (And his willingness to be a little nastier.) But even then, we see Kiyomiya learn mid-match, and by the end he’s the one firing off vicious slaps and a (probably too stiff) headbutt. Which... narratively, it was a great moment, but moves like that have a tendency to take me out of the story in a post-Shibata world. I could also do with a little less Misawa stuff. But overall, a very good main event title match that earned its length.

I really love Nakajima and Shiozaki as a team, also. Two ex-bland not-quite-aces with famous surrogate wrestledads, mad at a world that never quite embraced them and maybe even thinks—despite their relative youth—that they’re past their best, so they’re just gonna hit everyone really hard. (Of course, the dynamic of this match is very different.)

Doug Williams and Ogawa have the kind of match you’d expect, and I really like. People who like this sort of thing, etc. 

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I realize it might be because I just wasn't paying attention, but this recent resurgence in NOAH (or at least interest in NOAH) is great. I was always bummed that Misawa's promotion went downhill but it looks like they have a good crew of youngsters and guys like Nakajima and Kotaro Suzuki have really evolved into better roles since I stopped watching. Here's hoping they can raise their profile even more in 2019, maybe get a couple of guys on excursion to PWG. Sugiura in a BOLA would be rad.

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On 12/24/2018 at 5:21 AM, Beech27 said:

I really love Nakajima and Shiozaki as a team, also. Two ex-bland not-quite-aces with famous surrogate wrestledads, mad at a world that never quite embraced them and maybe even thinks—despite their relative youth—that they’re past their best, so they’re just gonna hit everyone really hard. (Of course, the dynamic of this match is very different.)

I'd be really shocked if Nakajima is past his best. But Shiozaki I suppose is done, hard to imagine how he could revitalize his career.

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I think he still has value, and at 36, might enjoy a long second act of surly machine gun chops. But he won’t ever be a top guy again—nor should he. 

Nakajima, I really think has found something, and could—if NOAH pushes Kiyomiya right to the top—be their “alternative” ace. Not saying that will happen, but although he’s been around forever, he’s only 30. To make the obvious comparison: Naito and Nak were much older when they discovered charisma. (And he’s two months older than me, which means I will insist there’s still time and he’s still young forever.)

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I couldn't believe Nakajimmy is still only 30 when I looked it up the other day. He was The Future back in those halcyon days of '04-'05 with Kensuke and that seems like a lifetime ago. He was so fundamentally spectacular for a teenager at that point, but yeah... bland but not to the point where you'd think he couldn't develop it as he progressed. Being forced to change from failure makes for a really interesting career arc. You guys have my interest piqued in NOAH. I'll check some more of it out.

Thinking of Kensuke Office always brings me back to the oddity that was World Japan. For a fading vanity Riki Choshu project, so much came out of it. Ishii's first real prominent push, Nakajima, the awesome trio of Tenryu/Choshu/Kensuke, the last hurrah for Shiro Koshinaka, Onita + no rope barbed wire deathmatches against those stars, DAN BOBISH, and Kensuke emerged from that shithole as one of the best on the planet (and wouldn't talk to Riki to this day over being cheated out of money). 

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Wikipedia tells me Ishii was also the chairman(?) of Riki Pro, so I guess we know where New Japan needs to look if they want an on-screen authority figure.

A couple other things from that rabbit hole excursion: I’d somehow completely forgotten that Kento Miyahara got his start in Kensuke Office, and that he was in that phenomenal elimination tag versus Burning. Also, his debut match was a loss against a young Seiya Sanada.

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Well, the whole feud(!) is apparently on YouTube (it’s a 4.5 hour video), but I skipped right to the aforementioned elimination tag. I don’t think a match of this (or any) type could be better put together, and there are so many highlights, even before the main eventers show up. But once they do... man, everything is urgent, and the tier discrepancy and elimination format makes every move a refreshingly believable finish. Kobashi can barely move at this point, and he’s not a flawless worker; but even on Kensuke’s turf, he’s treated like a flawless hero. It’s impossible to resist. (But why would you want to?) It’s also interesting to see early stages of the strike/counter choreography that’s been honed over the past decade. It’s not as clean here (in part because Kensuke and Kobashi, being old fashioned heavies, aren’t going to dance); but in some ways, that just makes it look more combative. I also noticed a proto v-trigger into the ropes from KENTA, and a chop/kick double team from Kensuke and Nakajima that the latter now does with Shiozaki. 

As for Kento: He’s firey and fun, but does manage to egregiously slap his leg on a super kick that gets dodged. So. That’s hilarious. 

But yeah. Everyone knows this is a classic, and it is. I’m gonna watch all of this, and then the finale again. 

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15 hours ago, Oyaji said:

Thinking of Kensuke Office always brings me back to the oddity that was World Japan. For a fading vanity Riki Choshu project, so much came out of it. Ishii's first real prominent push, Nakajima, the awesome trio of Tenryu/Choshu/Kensuke, the last hurrah for Shiro Koshinaka, Onita + no rope barbed wire deathmatches against those stars, DAN BOBISH, and Kensuke emerged from that shithole as one of the best on the planet (and wouldn't talk to Riki to this day over being cheated out of money). 

One more thing, about this: The animosity between Sasaki and Choshu adds a layer I hadn't thought about to Nakajima working Power Hall this July. Which I'm glad he did, because him/Kitamiya vs Kamitani/Nomura (NOAH's young Kick/Beef team vs Big Japan's much younger Kick/Beef team) would be on my Tag MOTY list, if I made such a thing. It also scores very, very high on my "I'm uncomfortable loving this, because brain trauma is definitely happening" scale, and has one of the more "was that a planned stoppage or is he actually knocked out?" finishes I've seen lately. So YMMV.

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