Puroresu General Discussion for 2019

[Lawful Metal 1,421]

Just signed up for NJPW world. What do I absolutely need to see right now?!

[Lawful Metal 1,421]

First match I looked up was Kawada v. Kensuke. 

What else?

[Oyaji 8,872]

Watch the big G1 matches from this year is my recommendation:

• Ibushi vs. Ishii
• Ishii vs. Goto
• Omega vs. Ishii
• Omega vs. Ibushi
• Ibushi vs. Goto
• Ibushi vs. Omega
• Omega vs. Naito
• Tanahashi vs. Okada
• The final

And all of the Golden Lovers tags from this year are magnificent.

[Oyaji 8,872]

Did anybody watch the NYE scramble tag tournament marathon? From the bits I've checked out in the past, they always seem a fun time but 5 hours is a long time to commit.

[Robert s 204]

So far I have seen the first round matches (as part of my new-years-resolution to watch more Japanese wrestling) and it's mostly short comedy matches (including a match where at the end all four competitors wrestled bareass, I did not think I would ever see a full-moon Space Flying Tiger Drop).

[Oyaji 8,872]

I watched the first three matches and enjoyed it. I'll probably keep going bit by bit. BJW's Nomura teamed with the Magnum Tokyo gimmick guy from DDT and came out with the coat and glasses then all four men ended the match with the glasses and dancing. So good to see Okabayashi back too!

[Beech27 2,659]

 

[Archibald 544]

Time to get that belt and have a decent run!

[Control 963]

13 hours ago, Beech27 said:

 

That's nice. Won't shake up the cards, obviously, since he's been essentially full-time with AJPW for the last 18-24 months. However, him being official means there's less risk that one of their major players could just up and leave for NOAH at any time.

[Ryan 5,399]

At a spry young 43. I'm trying to think if he's the tallest active native wrestler going these days. He's 6'5". Seems likely. Just a bit taller than Kohei Sato. Okada is 6'3" for the record.

[D.Z 7,636]

The AJPW roster is now at 18 contracted wrestlers. 

[clintthecrippler 1,614]

Are there any good sites or blogs that do show reviews or contextual news for non-NJPW promotions? I know Purolove has tons of results, but I am also looking for folks that do show reviews and match writeups/recommendations for everything from AJPW/DDT to Z1 to the random micro-leagues, and joshi too. Is there anything similar to what Cubsfan's site does for lucha or what International Deathmatch News does for death matches? 

[Beech27 2,659]

For NOAH, there’s: http://puroprogramtranslations.blogspot.co.uk/

The writer is @Hi5ame on twitter also, and very active there. (I guess the caveat here is this is basically NOAH PR, so you get a lot of news and translations, but no reviews per se.)

There are a number of other Twitter users who can function as pseudo aggregators, but none so dedicated to one promotion. 

Joshi City hasn’t updated in a while, but that was basically what you’re asking for.

[Oyaji 8,872]

Dramatic DDT

[D.Z 7,636]

Watched Kai Vs Kento. Good match.

 

[Beech27 2,659]

 

[Edwin 4,724]

How has Shinya Aoki been coming along? He's an outstanding grappler so it's cool seeing him take up the pro-wrestling route.

I saw he fought Tanomasaku Toba in DDT with Hayato "Mach" Sakurai at cornering Toba which is awesome. Makes me hope Mach would follow Aoki's lead and transition over to pro-wrestling also.

Apparently he's wrestled HARASHIMA before and there's a rematch scheduled to take place at Sumo Hall. Has anyone seen their previous match? If so, how was it? HARASHIMA was a favorite of mine back when I was following DDT. He's an extremely talented Jr. who's stayed loyal to DDT and very rarely works anywhere else.

[Oyaji 8,872]

I just re-upped with the Japanese streaming services. I will check out some Aoki in DDT and let you know. Universe, their streaming service, has great subscription offers. Somebody like me who isn't going to be watching live and generally watches DDT in bunches, you can sign up for the silver sub at 500 yen a month. No advance ticket sales, live streaming and a 3 day delay for archives. Perfect. I wish other services provided the same options. 

[Control 963]

How many contracted wrestlers does NJPW have? I realize that’s a bit up in the air right at this moment.

[Oyaji 8,872]

Random viewings last night with a bud:

1) Jun Kasai vs. Masashi Takeda (Freedoms Bloody X'mas 2018): Uh, so some people on Twitter were suggesting this was a serious MOTYC. Some people on Twitter are out of their collective minds. This was a disaster with so many nonsensical spots and no selling. But, hey, the audience ate this up, so perhaps the style just isn't for me. But if a guy falls off of a ladder through a pane glass  and then gets a splash from his opponent leaping off the top of the ladder, Takeda should probably not no sell into a suplex spot. Takeda also slapped a cleaver into Kasai's forehead. Fuck off.  Moral of the story: if you're working with Takeda, don't do shit off ladders onto him because it won't matter.

2) KAI vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW New Year Wars): This, on the other hand, was fantastic. I take it this was the performance of KAI's life? Not all that different from your high end New Japan main events but instead this had a way smarter and less offensive strike exchange than you often see in NJPW because it was less a lazy reset button 7/8ths of the way through the match and more of a failed attempt to turn the tides where continuity mattered. We were also incredibly distracted by AJPW's audience being a zany mixture of young and often attractive women, probably there because of the hunks like Miyahara, seated beside grumpy old men there because, as has been mentioned on this board, they hate the junior heavyweight influence on NJPW's main event style. Tangent: Miyahara is a combination of different NJPW influences far more than AJPW legacies though, so it's kind of funny when thinking about the cranky old men watching him. Miyahara's selling of the knee was great. Kai selling his throat after being dropped on a guardrail was king-sized. The passion and pacing was superb. Meltz said it was in the 4.75 ballpark and I wouldn't disagree with him too much. Go watch this.

[Beech27 2,659]

Kenoh/Kiyomiya has appeared already.

Spoiler

It’s an impressive match, and a worthy opening salvo for the kid. I still don’t know who he is—I’m not sure he knows—other than a Misawa/NOAH superfan who just so happened to grow into a prodigious talent; but placing that against Kenoh, the surly kicking jerk with the worst (and thus best) look in Japan, is such a natural fit. There are hard kicks and fired up babyface responses; it’s not special, but might feel like it eventually, depending on what Kaito and this rivalry become.

 

[D.Z 7,636]

[FlaeBlazer 227]

I honestly think Kenoh vs. Kaito is the best match I’ve seen in the first week of 2019. I liked it better than everything on Wrestle Kingdom as well as Kento vs. Kai.

I’m fully sold on Kaito now as the ace of NOAH. 

[D.Z 7,636]

Jake Lee and Nomura want to face Kento for the Triple Crown.

[Brian Fowler 14,338]

Dave was saying a Big Japan show he missed for Stardom was getting rave reviews from people he talked to. I think 1/2