Brian Fowler Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Not Tana's fault Kenny missed. What was he supposed to do, take a single step over? That was the most painful looking Dragon Screw I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Splat! That was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 This damn match is delivering in spades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 This has not felt like a 30 minute + match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Holy fucking shit old man. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Booooooooooooooo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I want to smack Charlton upside the God damn head. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Sure was nice of NJPW to give us the match of the year 4 days into the year. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 That match was as good as the first Okada/Kenny match. Hopefully this isn't the last we see of Kenny in NJPW. Was rooting for Tana. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 ACE OF ALL QUANTUM TIME AND SPACE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 1 minute ago, alstein said: That match was as good as the first Okada/Kenny match. Hopefully this isn't the last we see of Kenny in NJPW. I thought it was a touch below that but yeah, it was phenomenal and wove in their story beautifully. Better not be the last of Omega in NJPW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 That's easily my favorite Omega match ever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I don't know if it would be top five of the last year, man. Probably but only just. Three great matches, some very good matches, and some solid but completely rushed matches. One of the weaker WK shows of the past five years even if the main was better than anything from last year's, that one was better as a whole. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Main event was epic, though I was sad to see Kenny lose. It definitely doesn't seem like a coincidence that all the Elite people lost tonight. The midcard did seem a little on the soft side outside of the main and co-main events. Happy to see Ishimori win his first NJPW singles title. Not sure what's going on with Jericho's chest, but it seems slightly reminiscent of what happened to Scott Steiner. He must've been hitting the gear hard in his WWE days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I guess I should point out that, while I liked them all, I found the Omega/Okada matches crazy overrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Just now, TheVileOne said: Main event was epic, though I was sad to see Kenny lose. It definitely doesn't seem like a coincidence that all the Elite people lost tonight. I don't know if it means anything. Cody and Kenny were probably always jobbing (and Jericho for that matter) and there wasn't really some compelling reason to think The Bucks would win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevendaughters Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Funnily enough I felt last year like Oyaji seems to now. That the show was good, very good in the wider context of wrestling, but not blow away. But now I am sat here and I am blown away. I can only type this by clinging onto the edge of my desk as the wind of impressedness threatens to blow me clear over county lines. This was a great SHOW. Super main event that no way have I processed but I thought the storytelling of the old man reaching to the new and the new guy taking some of the old man's tools was, after all the cerebrality, easy to follow and made complete sense. I am surprised that Tanahashi went over (no really) because it snaps a long old streak of challengers failing. Really liked Jericho v Naito (won't even say "for what it was") and I hope that this leads to a Naito main event at the Dome that he wins in. Sadly they have diluted the meaningfulness of a Dome main event just as Naito is ready (again) to grab it! Okada v White was joyful. I liked how it was a lot of "remember when I had fire and things weren't so prog rock complicated?" from Okada with the right balance of sneaky shitheel and actual threat from Jay. Not an all-time great match but definitely a good part of the story. Yay shorts! Something of an unceremonial loss for KUSHIDA to the talented but slightly dry Ishimori. I enjoyed the work here as much as anything, with the sub-chasing and big knees, but I think this was the one match that was really affected by time. Cody v Juice was the one I looked forward to the least and it didn't deliver but maybe I was never going to let it? Nope. 3 way tag was fine, just fine. Short but this match never gets time. Sabre Jr v Ishii was the best in-ring all night, quick and crisp, and I liked the reversed-expectation dynamic (Ishii as weird protectorate of British belt and value, Sabre as disdainful and dominant). Will watch this again and thought it was like a cool G1 match. 3 way jr tag was the real intro to Shingo people needed. His aura carried the match and it was a cool ten min. Ibushi v Ospreay was super stuff and yet they didn't go all out. It was the right match to kick things off and get it all hyped and I like Ospreay more and more and will possibly become a fan if drops a couple of goofy things. Missed parts of the gauntlet schmoz because I tried to log on at the same time as ALL OF JAPAN. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Cody vs. Juice was a two-star match at best. They had a much better match in LA where Cody won the belt, but Cody was working with his knee injury and that probably had an affect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaeBlazer Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I thought Tana/Omega was great but I can’t call it a classic cause I thought the finish was REALLY anti-climactic. And this coming from a company that has a trademark for amazing finishing stretches. I can’t think of a NJPW main event where I thought the buildup parts of the match were better than the stretch run. I really liked the first 10 minutes of the match, loved the next 20, liked the next 5, and was lukewarm on the finishing sequence. The finish really came out of nowhere. Compare it to the beautiful climax of when he beat Ibushi in G1. A sling blade to a High Fly Flow? That’s it? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 The show lacked a clear blowaway match I'll come back to again and again, but it was smart and satisfying all over. Nothing was shorter than I wanted it to be, and everything I cared about delivered. -Ibushi and Ospreay did cool stuff, then demolished one another. Right in my wheelhouse, and I just hope Kota's ok. I'm not sure exactly what writing him out of Kenny's corner does, but I'll hope there was a reason, and we'll find it out soon enough. If one or both are leaving, and we don't get a tearful final Golden Lovers tag tomorrow because of an injury, I'll be the one crying. Of course Will is supposed to be the real narrative coming away from this, and sure, his ascent is clear. -We got the return of Okada's right and proper gear, the quality of match--and heat--that both men needed, and then the right finish. Jay's beating Tana for that title very, very soon, isn't he? -Naito starting his trek back up the mountain by finding a way to use and embrace(?) his Sisyphean boulder was probably the most satisfying narrative beat of the night. -The main was every inch a Tanahashi match, and I have to say that I did miss some of the physical dynamism we saw in Okada's duels with Omega and Naito. Of course I think that was part of the story: Tana's every move was slow, tortured, and so there were never going to be those kinds of exchanges. He beat Omega, but he's still not his equal; he won a match in which both men rejected their ideological baggage, and aimed for the only thing that should matter--being the best!--by not being better but more resilient. When winning is the only thing that matters, the man for whom winning matters more has the ultimate advantage. Brilliant story, brilliantly told. I hope this isn't it for Omega, but he's left quite the legacy if it is. -I'm stoked for NYD. Kenny, Ibushi, White... whatever random people I'm not confident enough will be there to even ask about... additional people maybe more surprising than that... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 4 minutes ago, FlaeBlazer said: I thought Tana/Omega was great but I can’t call it a classic cause I thought the finish was REALLY anti-climactic. And this coming from a company that has a trademark for amazing finishing stretches. I can’t think of a NJPW main event where I thought the buildup parts of the match were better than the stretch run. I really liked the first 10 minutes of the match, loved the next 20, liked the next 5, and was lukewarm on the finishing sequence. The finish really came out of nowhere. Compare it to the beautiful climax of when he beat Ibushi in G1. A sling blade to a High Fly Flow? That’s it? Personally, I thought Jericho vs. Naito had the better, more dramatic ending. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Bunch of thoughts: 1. As said before I liked gauntlet on pre-show. They had enough time for each team to do their stuff and as result it flowed much better than previously being placed on main card. 2. Ibushi/Ospreay was cool, but I think I was probably too hyped for it since at the end I felt like it under-delivered a bit. I hope that Ibushi isn't injured and at the same time I'm interested to see whats next for Ospreay. Oh, and stop screaming Ospreay. 3. Jr. tag titles match, was it just me or anyone else felt like R3K weren't really clicking here? Either way doesn't matter that much since it was mostly about showcasing Shingo and it worked in that regard. 4. Zack/Ishii was good. Not their best bout and I'm annoyed by Zack no-selling big moves to do smart counter. 5. HW. tag titles match was what it was. 6. Cody/Juice was going to be bad regardless so I think that short time actually made it less painful. 7. Probably only match that could have really used more time was Kushida/Ishimori. On the other hand it wasn't that great either. I think that only great match Ishimori had in NJPW was against Hiromu. 8. White/Okada was surprising. I guess the idea is that Okada thought that he could basically pick up his old gear/theme music and everything would be as it was. But inside he is still not "healed" and just looking like final boss doesn't mean that you are actually final boss. And I think this thing is working, crowd was really behind Okada and White got his booes. 9. Jericho/Naito was much better than their Dominion match. Still, I would have preferred if Naito did something else here, but it was fun trainwreck and bonus points for Naito using IC belt to beat Jericho. I guess we might actually be going towards "I'm going to start liking IC title" story. Again not a fan, but at least something is happening and being done rather well. 10. Omega/Tanahashi was motn and had cool stuff. Like that HFF into the table by Tanahashi that I kinda called 11. Match time... there are often complaints made about NJPW doing too many epic bouts that have way too much filler and this felt a bit like the opposite. Overall I prefer my matches shorter with a bit more urgency so I welcome this new direction (if this is indeed their new direction). They just need to figure it out a bit better and maybe slowly adjust to it instead of just going going straight from A to B. 12. Overall I enjoyed the show and it had some story ideas that could be developed further, but it wasn't one of the better WKs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Oh, and I think that White going over was the right call. As I mentioned it gives more material for Okada till he truly finds himself again and makes White now look legitimate threat to everyone. If he went 0-2 in the Dome then he wouldn't look that hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaeBlazer Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Omega/Tana was great like I said but I definitely wouldn’t consider it among the best matches of either’s career. In fact, their one match in 2016 was better than this. I dunno, it’s really weird that Tana winning G1 felt like a way bigger moment than him winning in the fucking Dome. Maybe it’s just cause the Ibushi match was way better. When Tana won G1, I was losing my mind and it seemed everyone else was. With this one, the consensus seems to be “wow that’s cool”. Even the crowd didn’t really pop that much when the final bell rang, it seemed the finish came out of nowhere to them too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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