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NPW Strong and other USA shows


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Buddy Matthews has the potential to be a top-tier performer, I've seen glimpses of that through the years, although I'm no longer a regular WWE watcher.  He's absolutely someone who's worth giving a shot to, in my opinion.  In this particular case, I'm going to cut him a little slack, as I think for lots of the folks coming directly from WWE, it may take a handful of matches for them to get acclimated to the different style and expectations.  I mean, they could have easily put him in there against Alex Coughlin, just for example, but they didn't, and slotted him second to the top.  He's coming in rather cold, I'd say.  Against Okada, no less.  Pretty daunting.  

On the flip side, Jonah (Rock) came in hot like he fucking owned the place though, that development certainly has me intrigued as well.  

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Buddy is great, but I think people were expecting a lot more considering his hype and, of course, Okada. The match wasn't bad, I had it equal with Narita/Ospreay as 2nd best match of the night. 

I do agree that Buddy probably is still adjusting, and once he does he could be a huge get for New Japan, especially with guys like Jay White, Juice and Finlay potentially on their way out. 

The other thing I think about the match is that Okada isn't going to be doing any Okada-style classics on this US tour with Wrestle Kingdom coming up.  I'm sure with the recent injuries, the office has probably told him to do his thing, but don't overdo it or risk anything leading into the new year. 

I did lose my shit for Jonah though, I remember he and Suzuki had a fun match on the first Australia tour so I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do now.

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Kind of impressed how good the ECW/2300/New Alhambra/Arena Arena looks these days. I remember it being such a dive was part of ECW's appeal. I went to a few Ring of Honor shows there as kind of a wrestling fan pilgrimage and even then it still had that dank feeling to it. Really impressed albeit a little sad by how good it looks these days. I wouldn't believe it was the same building if not for being told.

Feels like Strong has been, well, stronger than New Japan proper. I guess the benefit of shows hovering around an hour (maybe 90 minutes tops) is refreshing after the slogs that were the G1 this year and the talent pool is way fresher with guys Chris Dickinson, Lio Rush, Team Filthy on top of the bigger names like Switchblade and Suzuki (and I'm psyched for King/Mox vs. Archer/Suzuki round II tomorrow). 

Also, fun to watch Chris Dickinson without the "Dick Strings" chant. Good on you, ECW arena fans for playing it classier than some other crowds I've been a part of

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9 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Wait, Mox is already out of inpatient? 

This week's episode of Strong was taped on October 17th.

NJPW Strong has been the best weekly wrestling show for some time now in my opinion and yes, that includes AEW Dynamite.

New Black Tiger has to be Ricky Reyes, right? If so, that's the first time I've seen him since the end of Lucha Underground. That also has to be the first time Rocky and Ricky have been in the same ring for many many years. I think they were scheduled to have a tag match at that ROH Throwback show last year, that never happened because of a well known worldwide pandemic, right?

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If I'm not mistaken, Ricky Reyes showed up on the Talk'N Shop podcast fairly recently on a Romero-only episode, so the general timeline in regards to NJPW Strong kicking off this angle would seem to match up pretty well.  

Hopefully to the surprise of no one at this point, the latest episode may have been one of the best ones so far, especially with the Philly crowd who brought some tremendous extra energy to the proceedings.  Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Coughlin was quite a thing of beauty, and did it's true job by making me want to see more someday down the road.   Violence Unlimited with Daniel Garcia is a simmering storyline I'd like to see revisited as well.   Tons of delightful brutality on display from top to bottom.  

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This past week's episode from Seattle was pretty damn great.  

Brody King is a fucking beast, that is all.  The tag match with Lio/Rocky vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew was also really fun to watch.  I'll be honest, I've seen WCWC as mostly Royce Isaacs leading the way, and that still seems to be the case, but recently Jorel Nelson is gaining confidence and holding his own.  No doubt being on Strong week after week is making most guys significantly better, more polished.  You can see it for sure in this match.  

it was already a solid show by this point.  Clark Connors vs. TJP, however, took things up quite a few more notches.  I have to give credit where it's due, and clearly some of it is because he's generally unlikeable, but TJP is an outstanding heel.  He's also a guy who is willing to make Connors look like a world-beater.  Well done, you annoying little prick.  Coughlin and Narita have been stealing Connors' thunder recently, but Clark certainly makes a convincing case in this one.  If you can, you should absolutely check it out.   

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Fite really shat the bed on tonight's broadcast. Sound issues, signal issues, bad lighting on what was overall a good show.

Three matches scheduled for the next show in D.C.

Spoiler

Kingston vs. Ishii

Moxley vs. Tanahashi

Brody King vs. Suzuki

 

Edited by Ace
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5 hours ago, Ace said:

Fite really shat the bed on tonight's broadcast. Sound issues, signal issues, bad lighting on what was overall a good show.

Three matches scheduled for the next show in D.C.

  Hide contents

Kingston vs. Ishii

Moxley vs. Tanahashi

Brody King vs. Suzuki

 

All in on those three matches.

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