RIPPA Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 KENTO MIYAHARA CAGEMATCH vs. Joe Doering (03/25/18) vs. Naomichi Marufuji (CC 18 Finals) vs. Naomichi Marufuji (05/24/18) - Dailymotion vs. Zeus (10/21/18) vs. KAI (1/3/19) OTHER STUFF TO FIND vs. Shuji Ishikawa (6/4/17 & 8/27/17) vs. Suwama (10/9/17) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 Those two Marufuji matches were absolutely out of this world great. He's very much a modern Japanese wrestler. The Tanahashi influence is obvious literally just by looking at him, but he brings to the table a lot of what Okada does. Adapting to his opponents, and sometimes just being a complete dick (although he's clearly a babyface, boy oh boy can be be a colossal dick) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 I gotta be honest, I've seen a few of his hyped matches and I just don't get it? If I had to sum him up in a few words it'd be "dollar store NJPW ace" and they stylistically aren't my cup of tea to begin with, watching someone do something very similar but worse just strikes me as odd. I do recommend people check out more All Japan, but do so for Doering, Ishikawa, Zeus and some of the others who bring something... not completely unique, but more their own. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 11 hours ago, Brian Fowler said: Those two Marufuji matches were absolutely out of this world great. He's very much a modern Japanese wrestler. The Tanahashi influence is obvious literally just by looking at him, but he brings to the table a lot of what Okada does. Adapting to his opponents, and sometimes just being a complete dick (although he's clearly a babyface, boy oh boy can be be a colossal dick) I feel bad as this is basically a review that clearly is high on a guy but I come out of it 99% sure he isn’t for me. “Modern Japanese Wrestler”, “Tanahashi Influence”, “A lot of Okada”, and “2 Marafuji matches” are giant red flags for me. Ill give the Doering match a shot after I get off work still though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 I think Kento does suffer a bit from some corners of puro twitter treating him like the one true Japanese ace, when many of his best and worst habits are shared among New Japan's biggest stars. His knees are great, though (and no he's not going to limp around late match, no matter how much someone worked it, so don't hope for it), and he's way meaner about deploying them than Okada (whose whole thing is disaffection) has ever been; and we saw at the Baba memorial that he looks totally natural right next to Tanahashi. I think the biggest thing that's hurt him is that he took the ace mantle from no one, really, and has traded titles back and forth with a hoss-of-the-tour rotation--and those guys are all good to great, but none are credible as a real rival. Tana had Nagata; Okada had Tana; Kento has had... Suwama and Ishikawa... kinda. Anyway, I know every conversation about him comes back to New Japan's top stars, which is too bad, though I'm contributing to it. He hasn't reinvented any wheels, but he's very, very good. A little more "What if KENTA was six-feet tall?" in terms of attitude than other top stars currently, which I really like. For me his best stuff is on display in the KAI match, where he can be a beloved babyface, but absolutely vicious also. He was also in one of my favorite matches--that Burning/Kensuke Office elimination tag--as an almost unrecognizable kid. And he wasn't that good in it. But that's fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodear Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I watched the Doering match and started the Zeus match before deciding it wasn't worth sticking out after 10-15 minutes of bland action. Miyahara seems so pedestrian to me in that he didn't blow anything I saw but he never rose above competency. Like he's a Cody Rhodes to me in that I could see him being a main feature in a promotion with a talent deficit but he would get pushed aside if there were any other better options. He got easily overshadowed by the Big Lots version of Stan Hansen from what I saw and that's not the place to be. Like, what's the draw here? The elevator pitch? A wrestler should be able to tell you who they are without having to say a word in under 10 minutes and Miyahara seems to fail that test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts