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New Japan Cup 2018 (March 9th through March 21st)


Jiji

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10/10, perfection. Taichi to win the G1.

Also, in the backstage video from day one where Ibushi talks about tagging with and potentially being part of the Bullet Club, YOSHI-HASHI on his cup match with Kota states clearly "I can't lose this, my future depends on it." He fought like it was. Good on him.

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Not enoug appreciation for Naito continuing to be the master of selling the anguish and the struggle of being in a submission hold.  He might forget the limbwork immediately afterward, but nobody is better at sucking the crowd into the drama of a hold right now.

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Chuck and SANADA as two guys who would rather brawl, cheat, and garbage wrestle, accidentally landing in a 20-plus-minute finisher-kickout very New Japan main event was fun for me. Milano trying to instruct his ersatz protege on the Paradise Lock was the best part, though. 

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SANADA/Chuck was about as forgettable as I expected it to be.  It's good for Chuck that he seems to be making friends backstage over there, because he's certainly not doing anything in the ring that would merit a call back.

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1 hour ago, EVA said:

SANADA/Chuck was about as forgettable as I expected it to be.  It's good for Chuck that he seems to be making friends backstage over there, because he's certainly not doing anything in the ring that would merit a call back.

If you'd told me 10 years ago that Chuck would be main-eventing NEW JAPAN, I'd about have died laughing. Good on him.

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He seems happy.

Anyway yeah I don’t think he’s headed towards a G1 entry or title match, but Trent is stuck behind Kenny, Cody, ZSJ, White, Elgin, and Juice on the foreign pecking order too, so I wouldn’t be surprised or disappointed to see Chuck and Trent as a frequent tag team. Honestly, if we were getting smilin’, cartwheelin’, cheery War Machine, I’d rather have Best Friends in that role anyway.

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2 hours ago, EVA said:

SANADA/Chuck was about as forgettable as I expected it to be.  It's good for Chuck that he seems to be making friends backstage over there, because he's certainly not doing anything in the ring that would merit a call back.

Haven't watched today's show yet but have you seen any of his main event work in PWG? I thought he had 3 great, great matches last year on top with PWG. Though it would be very difficult to transplant that role and narrative over to New Japan when so much of the PWG stuff is layered character work that's progressed over years. My point is he's capable of great things but in the right scenario. I don't think he's somebody that can come in cold and become an instant success. 

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I mean, I'm not a big fan of his in general, but sometimes a guy can put himself in a new context and win me over (Kevin Owens in NXT/WWE, as an example).  Chuck has not done that in Japan thus far.  In fact, I think he's kinda made himself look worse, because NJPW just exposes how soft and sloppy he is.  He's basically been a Chase Owens-caliber player to this point.  Everybody knows I'm not big on SANADA either (and he really didn't do much in this match to suggest he's a future ring general, himself), but he looked like a world class professional compared to Chuck, who very much comes across like a guy who'll only ever be over with a niche audience who's in on all his jokes.

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I don't disagree with that. He hasn't looked great so far in New Japan outside of being a relatively big guy who's able to do well performed dives 'n' flips and shit. Oh and the Awful Waffle (terrible name, yeah) is a great finish. However, he told the most compelling match narratives outside of New Japan last year in his PWG matches with Zack and Ricochet. Stellar character work and psychology. No comedy either. I don't know if he'll ever be able to translate that to New Japan or elsewhere though and that is definitely problematic. He could start off as the Chaos gaijin job boy, like you said with the Chase comparison and perhaps work his way up from there. Beech also mentioned the possibility of Best Friends being a regular team in the company too, which would be even better for him (and maybe even Trent). I am heavily biased in his favour though, so I am thrilled with him getting this chance. For all we know, he could be done too. I stopped watching ROH on the regular just before he started making regular apperances for them but from what I've seen, he's looked really good with Trent, so at least there's that for the time being (well... not really with Trent's injury).

Something sparked from this conversation: am I alone in thinking Chase is showing gradual improvement and learning to show more personality in the ring? He's pretty good at expressing himself in the backstage promos too, but then so is pretty much everybody. The translated promos posted to YouTube have helped me appreciate the nuances and character development so much the past few tours. 

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2 hours ago, Oyaji said:

Okay, Dave saying Taichi/Tanahashi was "kinda weak" and loving the Elgin/Ishii point may force a break in even my love for the guy. Dave does not get it.

Meltzer would have dropped another star on Elgin/Ishii if there had been a few more head drops. Taichi/Tanahashi was so much better than that match, and I really like Ishii but damn... just too much stuff.

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He's always been a moves guy primarily, which is reflected by his opinion that matches should be judged for their time. The arms race that was mid '90s AJPW kind of made anything before it seem a bit antiquated if you're going just by movez. It also makes sense that Kobashi was his favourite of the bunch too.

A good story is a good story regardless of period. Context matters of course, but I totally disagree with that and his obsession with moves. They don't make a match great but they can play a part. Ishii/Elgin is a prime example of too much with a poor story. Tuff guyz trying to outdo each other only goes so far. Yoshi-Hashi/Ibushi was a perfect example of how moves can push a narrative. Taichi busting out his trainer's most dangerous moves in the biggest match of his career makes sense. Elgin dropping Ishii on his head 10 times and the two no selling so many strikes and slams loses its appeal because it devalues everything they're doing.

He also liked Charlotte vs. Ruby Riot, so maybe he's completely out to lunch these past few days. I question the sanity of anybody not on board the Taichimania Express.

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15 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

 

He also liked Charlotte vs. Ruby Riot, so maybe he's completely out to lunch these past few days. I question the sanity of anybody not on board the Taichimania Express.

Bryan liked that. Dave said it might've been the worst match on the show.

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13 hours ago, Oyaji said:

He could start off as the Chaos gaijin job boy, like you said with the Chase comparison and perhaps work his way up from there.

I'm not sure if Chaos needs more pin eaters considering that they have Gedo (and Jado if he returns at some point?) and Yoshi Hashi, Yano could easily eat some pins too. As for Chase, he is funny guy, but at the same time I'm not sure if anyone would really miss him if he was gone tomorrow.

As for him being a regular tag team with Trent, I don't know. I didn't really like their WTL run last year and I fear that it hurts Trent more than it helps Chuck. I mean, Trent/Chuck to me is clear downgrade from Trent/Romero. Yay, you moved into heavyweight division and you are stuck in tag teams again, but this time you have shittier partner, much progression.

I don't understand why they book KES in these tournaments if they are just to drop out in the first round. It makes their tag-team look like "two big guys that are bad wrestlers teaming up" instead of "two big guys that are really dangerous wrestlers are teaming up so you better run". Tag team division shouldn't be made out of wrestlers who are bad at singles.

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It's not so much that I don't think Trent has a (relatively) higher ceiling than Chuck as I don't think there's much indication New Japan sees him as more than a useful utility player. Maybe returning from injury will give him some momentum, though; I'd like that to be the case.

So, we all noted how ZSJ getting Taka as his hype man--not to mention the clean, rather dominant win over Naito--indicates a real push might be forthcoming. However, New Japan likes to use their weekly free match to essentially comment on current stories, and this week's is Ibushi winning the 2015 cup. Of course, part of knowingly using a storytelling tool like that is knowing when to use it as misdirection, so maybe that's it. I realize this is basically just a "boy I wonder who will win" post, and it's wrestling, so I... should wonder about those things. But still. I'm excited.

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losing to Yano's bullshit doesn't make you weak- it just means Yano outsmarted someone again.   I have a soft spot for Yano pulling rabbits out of his hat, and I think the Japanese fans enjoy it as well.  DBS dominated the crap out of Yano in the match, he just got outsmarted.    I kinda wish they had flipped Archer and DBS, but that's because I like DBS more than Archer, and it's easier to buy Archer as stupid.

And yeah, Taka's hypemanning is awesome- and learning about ZSJ's politics means I'm now pulling for ZSJ to win the whole thing.  Want to see him get his big break.

 

 

 

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Not to be forgotten is Zack's propensity to call somebody a dickhead. Like when he asked about YOSHI-HASHI's "head hunter" nickname and then declared himself to be the "dickhead hunter, and YOSHI-HASHI is one fucking top dickhead." ZSJ is a legend.

I like Yano as a change of pace but if he's constantly outsmarting people, he should probably add more and new wrinkles to his game. He occasionally does but usually it's the same bullshit. And, yeah, New Japan shitting all over their refs is egregious and none more so than with YTR.

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DAVE has not been an accurate star rater for a little while now and dare I say the Observer itself feels a bit weak of late. And I say this as a fan.

Enjoyed this first round more than any I can remember, on the whole. Lot of variety and the weak-on-paper line-up delivered well.

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4 hours ago, Oyaji said:

Not to be forgotten is Zack's propensity to call somebody a dickhead. Like when he asked about YOSHI-HASHI's "head hunter" nickname and then declared himself to be the "dickhead hunter, and YOSHI-HASHI is one fucking top dickhead." ZSJ is a legend.

I like Yano as a change of pace but if he's constantly outsmarting people, he should probably add more and new wrinkles to his game. He occasionally does but usually it's the same bullshit. And, yeah, New Japan shitting all over their refs is egregious and none more so than with YTR Suzuki-Gun.

FTFY.

I thought the Yano/DBS finish was more creative than usual. The only objectionably stupid finish I've seen them do with him recently was the G1 match where Yano faked a foul to get Biggu Maiku DQ'd.

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During the match it also looked like DBS had answers for many of old Yano's tricks so I agree in a sense that he looked strong and dominant before getting screwed due to being greedy and wanting Yano to be counted out. But at the same time I think my criticism that one of the top Tag teams can't win singles match is valid, last year we had same situation with both GoD guys getting eliminated in the first round.

And yeah, I get it that nobody probably really wants any of them to win singles matches since they aren't very good, some are even terrible, but at the same time I think it doesn't make sense to have your top Tag Teams made out of such wrestlers. By comparison I think one of the reasons why AJPW's tag league got so much prise is because it had Suwama/Ishikawa team doing the work, wrestlers that are constant Triple Crown challengers/winners. That gives legitimacy to the division.

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By Elgin match standards, that didn't escalate much. He still hits so much deadly looking offense that, when he loses, he looks like a bit of a dork--but whatever. Juice did still get to trade strikes and power offense a little more than might be ideal, but he's just so good at selling a beatdown that his "fire up" moments appear genuinely to be adrenaline fueled bursts, rather than just a decision to stop selling. While I wouldn't have minded seeing him get a more definitive win--especially since he did in their G1 match, and I think there should be some emphasis that he's getting better--there's something to be said for establishing flash pins as a credible finish. He's done this to Omega also, of course, so the moment(s) where he rolls Tanahashi up, fifteen minutes in, are going to massively tense. Despite myself, I'll probably buy in.

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