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NJPW Destruction Tour 2018


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On 9/17/2018 at 3:20 PM, Beech27 said:

He's been on that warpath for a long time, and it's only increased now that they're actually feuding.

 

Okay, somewhat off-topic, but if there was a point of view that encapsulates what I loathe about Omega and to a higher degree, Will Ospreay, this is it. Do I think Omega is a phenomenal wrestler? Yes. I love his moveset and can enjoy his matches, but there are times when I fucking tune out because the thing about Omega is that his moveset has tons of things that would be qualified as finishers for any other wrestler. There are a bunch of bombast but not a whole lot of structure. He sells well, but the selling means little when you have been constantly hit by a truck and still keep getting up.  In comparison to Kota who is just as bombastic, but sprinkles it with set up moves and variety or Tanahashi who is all about the build-up, Kenny is like watching the Raid within a wrestling match.

I fucking hate Will Ospreay though and have nothing good to say about him.

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I like the Omega/Tanahashi Dome Match the more and more I think about it because of the psychological styles clash. Tanahashi isn't going to go in there and wrestle a Kenny Omega match, and I think Kenny will realize he has to relent to The Ace and work a pace that's conducive to the setting as well as his opponent. Which he can do. I think most of his and Okada's work is cohesive from bell-to-bell, bonkers though it may get.

Will Ospreay might be my least favorite wrestler on Earth and he is devoid of any upside.

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57 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Will Ospreay might be my least favorite wrestler on Earth and he is devoid of any upside.

Side Note: I don’t really get why people complain about Ospreay but never say a bad word about Ricochet. I’ve noticed Ospreay gets a lot of shit on the internet and Ricochet is treated like a god. I like both guys but they both have similar issues. They’ve both improved greatly but still it’s kinda weird how much more reverence Ricochet gets when I think they are on the same level.

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Yeah, Ospreay hate is so 2015. He's better at least trying to structure his match around some story. I actually thought his match with WALTER dragged in parts because it was too focused on telling the story. 

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Ricochet and Ospreay are both doing similar flippy-doo babyface acts but the difference is that Ricochet doesn't yelp like a stepped-on Papillon every time he's put in a submission, has never used something as insulting as a springboard cutter as his finish, and was a worthwhile champ in LU (and technically CHIKARA, both under different gimmicks). He also snagged a run with DG's main title that didn't stink. I'm not saying he's without flaw but he's got five times the upside as Ospreay, I could watch the two of them read from the exact same script and enjoy Ricochet's interpretation to Will's every time.

Ospreay hate is so 2015 because it's every year. It's timeless. It's 2018, 3018 too. In 2015 I hated Kenny Omega. In 2007 I hated Hiroshi Tanahashi.  I'm currently learning to like elements of Marty Scurll's persona. I remember going to the first EVOLVE show (only one I've been to) with Kota Ibushi vs. Davey Richards as the main event, and I boo'ed both. Now I've learned to enjoy the character and the work of one of them, because I come around on people eventually. I figured out what they're trying to do, and they add more wrinkles to their game, and performer and audience learn to compromise. But every once in awhile you get somebody who won't meet you halfway. Davey Richards is not the only Davey Richards.

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Something nuts that I saw Dave in the Observer suggest as a possibility in regards to them not having announced a KOPW main event yet and the Omega/Tanahashi build starting early is what if, Okada beats Tanahashi and gets the briefcase and then they do Omega/Tanahashi at KOPW.

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On 9/19/2018 at 9:43 AM, Oyaji said:

Meltzer not getting Taichi at all is frustrating but makes so much sense. I particularly loved him ripping Taka vs. Taichi from last year's BOSJ and enjoying a recent match that followed a similar pattern because it had some of his moves boys in it... Oh right, the Golden Elite tag from the G1 where they just countered each other without tagging. 

That match was AMAZING. They had me rooting for a 30-minute draw where neither guy ever touched.

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2 hours ago, Raziel said:

I'd be hard pressed to find a main event sceanaro from now to WK I want less than that one.

I don’t wanna see it either but what are your thoughts on each of the Okada/Omega matches? I love them but I think Omega/Tana is a way more interesting direction right now.

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1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

For the sake of Wrestle Kingdom, Okada must lose on Sunday.

I agree Okada should lose but it’s not like WK is fucked if he wins. You could argue the chances Omega/Tanahashi is better than Omega/Okada are low. I definitely think Tanahashi should win but I’m not gonna be mad or salty if Okada wins. Omega/Okada is a good Tokyo Dome main event too.

 

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NJPW has been so good at not running matches into the ground like WWE so often does. Both Tanahashi vs. Okada and Okada vs. Omega should be done with for at least a year or so. Maybe if they know that Omega is leaving in February or after the MSG show, then I could see the argument that you'd want Okada to get revenge on Omega before Kenny leaves. But I don't think Omega is leaving and they would know better than some dumbfuck like me. And due to Okada working either Okada or Tanahashi throughout so much of the year, Naito has wrestled Suzuki way too many times too. Things are a little stale right now at the top and Omega vs. Tanahashi is fresh as a mawfucker. Both are geniuses of pro wrestling with fairly different takes on the art (but not nearly as much as they're emphasizing of course) . They'll combine for something incredibly special at the Dome. They could promote it as Tanahashi's last big hurrah at the top of WK even though it doesn't have to be. It's the right match for that show now that we're not getting the big GL Dome Extravaganza of Danger and Doom. Tanahashi with the belt and defending against either Kenny or Kota at MSG would be so great too. I'm excited to see where it goes but Okada really could use a year of tumult to make his character both more interesting and sympathetic.

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Random question but how would you rank the NJPW Bushiroad years in terms of overall quality? So 2012-present.

I know 2018 isn’t over yet but barely anything happens post G1 every year so I doubt opinions on the year will change.

I’d say 2017 is the clear #1. The booking was great and there is a case that it was the single best year of match quality in any promotion ever. It had in my opinion, the best Tokyo Dome show ever and best G1 ever. I think most would agree that 2017 is the peak of the NJPW “renaissance”. After that, it gets a little bit murky.

How would you rank the years of the Bushiroad era?

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On 9/21/2018 at 5:59 AM, FlaeBlazer said:

Something nuts that I saw Dave in the Observer suggest as a possibility in regards to them not having announced a KOPW main event yet and the Omega/Tanahashi build starting early is what if, Okada beats Tanahashi and gets the briefcase and then they do Omega/Tanahashi at KOPW.

I think that Okada beating Tanahashi is likely, but I can't see Tanahashi losing two high profile main events in the span of two weeks.

Not sure about year rankings, but I feel like last year was stronger with only exception being NJ Cup. Last year had amazing moment with Shibata winning it, but I think that this year, overall, had much stronger NJ Cup from top to bottom. Well, and as bad as some of the stuff was this year, I think nothing was as bad as Suzuki/Elgin Destruction match from last year.

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I'd say right now with where the two characters are going and how stale Okada/Tanahashi is, it would be insane to run with that as the Tokyo Dome main event, Tanahashi is a pretty strong favourite to beat Okada.

But yeah, this year has been mostly fantastic and gave us some really magical feel good moments, but the wrestling was a bit better last year than this. I'd also say that this year was better than 2016 or '15 from my recollection though 2015 was when I was still only watching bigger shows with the rare exception.

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57 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

But yeah, this year has been mostly fantastic and gave us some really magical feel good moments, but the wrestling was a bit better last year than this. I'd also say that this year was better than 2016 or '15 from my recollection though 2015 was when I was still only watching bigger shows with the rare exception.

I think the booking in 2016 was better than this year but the match quality in 2018 is better. 2016 didn’t really get going until about Dominion because they had to rebound from the WWE raid in January. But in 2016, we saw the rise of Tetsuya Naito and Kenny Omega into main event stars and I’d say that booking job by Gedo is way better than anything he’s done this year. We also had the awesome NJPW vs. NOAH feud too. 2018 has been amazing in match quality but the booking has undeniably been lackluster at times. 

2018 has had better matches but I think 2016 was an all-around better year.

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Looking forward to a new entry in Tanahashi vs. Okada, one of the all time best series.  Since the winner of the G1 Climax defends the Wrestle Kingdom IWGP Heavyweight Championship contract was introduced in 2012, nobody has lost it. I can see Hiroshi becoming the first. I'm hoping that's not the (brief)case.

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13 hours ago, Oyaji said:

That match won me over on Taichi 100%. I always laughed during his intro and the tear away pants is a great heel gimmick but it has been all love since then.

His Naito match earlier this year was so much better.   His NJC match with I think Tana was very good as well.

If you want heel shtick done to perfection- on NJPW check out his match against Taka.  They manage to go about 10 minutes without hurting each other.  Larry Zybisco would be proud.

Also, if Tana comes into WK with the briefcase, I fully expect him to win as his last hurrah.

 

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https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/27337

So I just looked at the ticket page for Destruction In Kobe and there seems to still be a good amount of tickets left especially in Arena B. Kobe World Hall is a medium size arena with like 6,000 seats. Looks like this show isn’t a sellout which shows how little drawing power Tanahashi vs. Okada has anymore. The terrible Budokan number plus this proves it.

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