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NJPW things before G1 Climax 2019 starts


Archibald

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I don't find Ospreay cringeworthy. That video has me more excited for Ospreay/Eagles. I was looking forward to it, but that video just added to my excitement for it. I expect the Robbie Eagles face turn when either ELP's interference goes awry or Eagles gets a beating from ELP and Ishimori after losing a clean match, and Ospreay makes the save. I've said it since Ospreay/Eagles in BOSJ that I think we're going to see Ospreay/Eagles vs. ELP/Ishimori.

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ZSJ's post-match promo and backstage talk was fucking awesome, comparing defending the title against Yoshi Hashi to a Man United pre-season friendly against Barnsley or Dagenham. I fell out.

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55 minutes ago, Belgian_Waffle said:

Does Ishii have even a whiff of a prayer of finally winning this year? My interest will be determined largely by that factor. 

None. He’s the current NEVER champ, so he’ll slot in at 4-5 or 5-4, setting up some challenges. (I’d say sorry, but the matches will be really, really good. It’s just likely that his IWGP challenge against Kenny last year was as high as he’s ever going to get.)

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Ishii's 43 and not a Homegrown, so NEVER champ and Upper Card Gatekeeper ala Arn is his ceiling.  Not that it's a bad ceiling, but he's not winning a G1 or getting too many whiffs of the big belt.  

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On 6/10/2019 at 11:31 AM, John E. Dynamite said:

I'm gonna be brutally honest, I don't think Minoru Suzuki can do it anymore.

I certainly wouldn't want to be the guy that tells Suzuki he can't do it anymore. 

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As for you lads crapping all over the Ospreay video, I thought it was brilliant, a charming throwback where he got all his talking points in, built up the event, built up Robbie Eagles and got you rooting for him; what's not to like? I'll grant that Will has some annoying in-ring habits like pulling ridiculous faces for no particular reason, but he seems to be learning to keep that shit in check, (something Kenny Omega is either incapable of or unwilling to do). Two years ago I found Ospreay almost unwatchable and now I'm finding him pretty enjoyable most of the time. Dude's only 25/26? Nice to be able to watch a guy learn their craft and improve, which he seems pretty dedicated to doing. 

Last guy I recall watching at about the same stage in their career that really seemed dedicated to being a sponge and absorbing all the wrestling that they could was a young fella name of Dustin Rhodes. Now I'm not for a second saying that there's any comparison yet, but Ospreay seems pretty dedicated to his craft and he's come a long ways in just the couple of years that I've been paying attention as opposed to some guys (who will remain nameless) who still do annoying shit like admiring themselves on the monitor and making ridiculous faces for no discernible reason.

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I think I have written somewhere that it feels like Ospreay and Omega are going into opposite directions despite both looking relatively similar one or two years ago. He did say in one of his recent podcasts that he tries to mix up Omega's and Tanahashi's styles so I guess it all makes sense. As for the video, I liked what he said, but I didn't like how it was delivered and I wasn't very fond of him running around in his gear during the video. It felt a bit like something I'd see on super-hero show. Which is funny, since I'm huge fan of superheroes genre, but I guess I'm a bit of a purist and I don't like those things mixing up too much. Anyway, Eagles also did promo video and I liked it better:

To sum it up, I'm sold on Ospreay/Eagles thing, and I want them to get a good tag team run, despite both guys not really being my favourite wrestlers in NJPW.

In other news, guy from Australia whose name I forgot rolled up Tama and now Juice/Guy from Australia vs GoD on Showdown show are for tag titles. I think he did better here than what we saw of him in singles action. And Rocky/ELP is now for RevPro's title as well because why not.

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12 hours ago, Archibald said:

I think I have written somewhere that it feels like Ospreay and Omega are going into opposite directions despite both looking relatively similar one or two years ago. He did say in one of his recent podcasts that he tries to mix up Omega's and Tanahashi's styles so I guess it all makes sense. As for the video, I liked what he said, but I didn't like how it was delivered and I wasn't very fond of him running around in his gear during the video. It felt a bit like something I'd see on super-hero show. Which is funny, since I'm huge fan of superheroes genre, but I guess I'm a bit of a purist and I don't like those things mixing up too much. Anyway, Eagles also did promo video and I liked it better:

To sum it up, I'm sold on Ospreay/Eagles thing, and I want them to get a good tag team run, despite both guys not really being my favourite wrestlers in NJPW.

In other news, guy from Australia whose name I forgot rolled up Tama and now Juice/Guy from Australia vs GoD on Showdown show are for tag titles. I think he did better here than what we saw of him in singles action. And Rocky/ELP is now for RevPro's title as well because why not.

Mikey Nicholls is the man in question. Always thought he was a better fit for Japan than he ever was in NXT. 

I'm really keen to see Robbie vs Ospreay again, the two have great chemistry. Their match they had for PWA in Sydney last August is still the best match I have ever seen live, when they've faced off previously, they've always done something different stylistically each time, one match being just crazy moves, the other aforementioned PWA match being a lot less big moves and a lot more striking and submission based. I'm really keen to see how the match goes. 

Also, a lot of the guys who have been in the Fale Dojo in New Zealand who have graduated to NJPW Young Boy status are appearing on this show with Andrew Villalobos, Mark Tui and Michael Richards debuting on the Melbourne card while on Sydney the Filip Brothers make their debuts as well. Also, a lot of speculation that Slex who wrestled Okada for MCW and Switchblade on last years tour may be going full time for NJPW in the near future. 

Hopefully they get a decent sized live crowd, they have reduced the price on some of the remaining tickets in the last week to try and fill the venue, Festival Hall holds around 4000 at a guess. It's very cool that a venue with major wrestling history dating back to Jim Barnett's WCW in the 60's and 70's.

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Southern Showdown was a lot of fun live, looked 80-85% full with some balcony section closed off (for renovations apparently). Crowd was into everything but understandably burnt out after Ospreay/Eagles (which, like all their matches, was awesome). Tanahashi looks so immobile, don't know how he's gonna survive the G1. 

Narita and SHO missed the show due to flight issues, local guy Nick Bury replaced Narita and the other match was changed to a straight up tag as Gedo dropped out. Happy for Bury to get a shot on the card. Not much else really must see outside of Ospreay/Eagles - ELP/Rocky was fun, as was Slex/Solow (really wish it was Slex instead of Mikey getting the New Japan run). 

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From being there live it was a smaller crowd than last time, as they'd closed off more of the bleachers and tried to put more of the crowd on the floor section.

Bury getting the shot was great, he's a mainstay in the Melbourne indy scene and is a good dude. 

Ospreay vs Eagles should've gone on last, they just match up insanely well. The main event tag was fine, mostly the charisma of it's participants carried it but during the match a relatively big portion of the crowd started leaving. 

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Ultimately another half assed house show with some trappings but nothing that was unexpected. I stand by my opinion that had they built that show around a rematch between Slex and Okada they could have sold the place out.

Was nice they brought ring skirts, refs and an announcer this time but only Will and Robbie treated their match as anything important. But hey, I paid $35 and that match was a killer. Will never gives less than 100% and he also handled the crowd like an old pro. They had a hell of a match but I also subscribe to the theory that you don’t have to do 30+ just because you can.

I still feel NJPW is missing a golden opp with Melbourne, but that’s expansion with little planning for you.

 

 

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1 hour ago, matwarz said:

Ultimately another half assed house show with some trappings but nothing that was unexpected. I stand by my opinion that had they built that show around a rematch between Slex and Okada they could have sold the place out.

Was nice they brought ring skirts, refs and an announcer this time but only Will and Robbie treated their match as anything important. But hey, I paid $35 and that match was a killer. Will never gives less than 100% and he also handled the crowd like an old pro. They had a hell of a match but I also subscribe to the theory that you don’t have to do 30+ just because you can.

I still feel NJPW is missing a golden opp with Melbourne, but that’s expansion with little planning for you.

 

 

I agree with the golden opportunity bit, I wouldn't be surprised that the next tour the roles are reversed and Sydney gets the major show and Melbourne the house show.

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I kind of agree - while Robbie is popular in MCW, I think if they had a Melbourne guy like Slex or Adam Brookes in a more featured match it would of drawn better than Robbie who is a Sydney guy and Mikey who is a Perth guy. Craven did say in some podcasts here that they want Festival Hall to be their venue if things go well, so we will see. I still think there was enough of a base to run Melbourne again, it was a one match card without half the roster. No LIJ, no Suzuki-gun, no Liger, no Ibushi...if they do come with a full roster next time, and heavily feature at least Slex, the result will be much better for them. 

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I think looking at it that way is the whole issue. You have a company in a new market trying to offer themselves as the best company in the game. Presenting lazy house shows isn’t going to cut it or increase drawing past hardcores. Padding cards out with aussies is not what a new Japan fan wants unless you’re going to use them smartly and build them up as potential draws. It’s no good wanting to be the alternative to WWE and just doing the same as them. 

This show was a step up from the last Festival hall but I think the damage was done by the last. 

 

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