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NJPW Destruction Tour 2018


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44 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

And at this point, I don't want to see another LIJ/Suzuki-gun tag match for a long time. I'm so over it. They are over it. The crowd is over it.

Not sure that I agree about crowds being over it. Crowd was reacting to that tag match and Evil got lots of chants.

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Posted these in the gif thread, but might as well post them here.

Bailamos. Let the rhythm take you over, bailamos:

Spoiler

TLLBY78.gif

Yoshi Hashi Titus O'Neil's himself and New Japan edits it:

Spoiler

GJXuLvd.gif

Peak the women to the left laughing at him.

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3 minutes ago, Edwin said:

Posted these in the gif thread, but might as well post them here.

Bailamos. Let the rhythm take you over, bailamos:

  Reveal hidden contents

TLLBY78.gif

Yoshi Hashi Titus O'Neil's himself and New Japan edits it:

  Reveal hidden contents

GJXuLvd.gif

Peak the women to the left laughing at him.

What did you think of the match itself and the ending angle?

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2 minutes ago, FlaeBlazer said:

What did you think of the match itself and the ending angle?

--

56 minutes ago, Edwin said:

Just watched Tanahashi/Okada, yeah, this type of New Japan modern epic isn't for me. I was honestly not drawn in and it felt like it was really long. I guess what kills my interest in the current product is how it's constantly sold as the greatest wrestling ever and yet when I watch it it doesn't come across as such. Not to be overly critical, but neither guys selling was exactly mindblowing or anything. Those Rainmaker counters were embarrassing. They looked like they were dancing to Enrique Iglesias Bailamos.

Also, that post match fiasco turned into a complete joke once Yoshi Hashi busted himself hardway on the botched run in.

I'll watch whatever matches peak my interest in their next event and will decide if I will keep my subscription or cancel it.

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I'm generally not a fan of the finisher reversal dance but it makes sense in context of their epic, 6-year-long feud. They know each other so well and have taken each other's biggest moves hundreds of times at this stage of the game. They keep adding wrinkles to reversals to the reversal to the reversal, ad infinitum. 

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Regarding whether or not to keep NJPW World, I'll keep it going forever if it keeps fluctuating between $9 and $5. Every month it's something different, but only seeing $5 and some change the one month felt like a steal. 

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So I guess our headlining matches for WK13 are clear now.

Omega vs. Tanahashi - IWGP Title (main)

Naito vs. Jericho - IC Title (semi-main)

Okada vs. White (w/Gedo) - Grudge Match

The exact same 6 guys as last year just in different matchups. These top 3 matches can’t compare to WK 9, 10, and 11 but I’d say it’s superior to the WK 12 top 3 on paper. 

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I know Omega vs Tanahashi will be different and all that, but I'm honestly not feeling it. I'm especially not digging it if the story going in is old vs new when they aren't that far apart in age and Tanahashi probably isn't going to lose.

Are we sure it's going to be Naito vs Jericho? Naito doesn't give a shit about the IC title. Does he ever care about Jericho? Why not use the opportunity to elevate someone else from LIJ, but I guess that leaves Naito with nothing to do.

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28 minutes ago, Craig H said:

Are we sure it's going to be Naito vs Jericho? Naito doesn't give a shit about the IC title. Does he ever care about Jericho? Why not use the opportunity to elevate someone else from LIJ, but I guess that leaves Naito with nothing to do.

Naito will fight Jericho for revenge not because of the belt. Anyway, Naito is way too popular to not be in a top match at the Dome. Even if he is booked like shit for most of the year, Gedo knows that. At this point, even if he has nothing to do, IC Champion is basically his default role. He’s essentially the new Nakamura whether you like it or not.

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Anyway, what the hell is the Fighting Spirit Unleashed card shaping up to be?

I’ve skipped the undercard of all these Destruction shows so I wouldn’t know if they were building anything.

I know about the announced matches:

Juice vs. Cody (US Title)

Young Bucks vs. GOD (Tag Titles)

Ospreay vs. Scurll (Jr. Tournament)

But I’m assuming the rest of the card will just be tag matches and will mostly look like a Road To... show. Can anybody confirm?

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6 minutes ago, Archibald said:

Most likely we''ll get LiJ/Suzuki Gun tag match and Tanahashi/White tag match.

Is NJPW even trying with this show lol? It’s not drawing very well and they don’t seem to be even attempting to increase interest.

The top 3 matches look very mediocre and they exclusively feature gaijins. How many fucking times does Cody have to main event these US shows?

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16 minutes ago, FlaeBlazer said:

Is NJPW even trying with this show lol? It’s not drawing very well and they don’t seem to be even attempting to increase interest.

The top 3 matches look very mediocre and they exclusively feature gaijins. How many fucking times does Cody have to main event these US shows?

My conspiracy theory is that these shows are happening due to The Elite wanting them to happen and thats why NJPW itself does not go out of its way to make them very exciting.

Anyway, Destruction tour wrapped and... I think it was better than last couple of years? Think what you want about Beppu show but last year had terrible Suzuki/Elgin title match and this year also had major angle starting while last few years were basically about rematches. So overall I'd say it was better tour.

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Why can't guys do moves with worked over limbs? I never understood that logic. It should fucking hurt afterwards and it shouldn't have the same impact but some guy stretching your arm or leg for 10 minutes shouldn't mean it's a useless body part.

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Liked the main well enough, even though it didn't grab me as much as their G1 match (which might have been my fave of the tournament). I like to think that Okada lost because he insisted on doing that doofy discuss Rainmaker. Y'know what I'd like to see? Okada going for a Rainmaker only to throw a knee at a ducking Tanahashi's head. Just a thought.

YOSHI-HASHI was already at a dire level of "What are you supposed to do with YOSHI-HASHI?". Is this the moment where he becomes completely unsalvageable, or is this so in-character that it makes no difference?

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Well, I was vacationing/backpacking/camping/etc, so I just got around to watching this. Probably no need to write a book report at this point--I mean there's no need to ever do it--but I really, really liked the main. I guess the narrative is somewhat that Japanese fans have soured on this matchup, and maybe North American fans have too--especially now that Kenny's made the point--but it felt equal parts novel and narratively congruent to me.

Aside: The leg selling was really good, guys. We can't complain no one sells damage long term, and then demand everyone act crippled by limb work in every match. If Okada's legs are so trashed he can't hit dropkicks, then he should be out for a while. He isn't going to be, because this isn't an injury angle, so he can--and should!--still hit his stuff.

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10 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Dave Meltzer:

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada *****

The two other Okada/Tanahashi 2018 matches, Meltzer gave *****1/2 (Wrestling Dontaku) and ***** (G1 Climax 28).

I actually agree with Dave that the Dontaku match was their clear best in 2018. I just was obviously lower on the ratings.

My ratings:

Dontaku - 5

Destruction - 4.75

G1 - 4.5

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I went ***** for the G1 Climax 2018 match only. I never go above five. G1 Climax 28 was definitely the best of them for me, unsure whether I preferred Dontaku or Destruction. 

EDIT: Fixed my mistake saying I gave all three Okada/Tanahashi matches in 2018 *****.

Edited by The Natural
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