sevendaughters

my favourite* thing about this is the sub-economy of charlatans trying to break down the fight. i don't think he makes a single relevant/coherent point. *BORAT VOICE: "NOT"

yes I think so. whether that would happen at the Dome or KOPW or Power Struggle I'm not sure. but hell of a match.

not since they introduced it. it would be so huge if they did it (it's a good contingency if the G1 winner gets injured too, or is just flatly rejected) but clearly they're not doing it here where Ishii has two wins over Naito in 2017.

also as someone smarter than me on Twitter pointed out: look at the only card Ibushi is on

the Roppongi Vice final match...does that enhance or decrease the chances that the mystery dude in the video holding the knife is Beretta?

It's a push alright but we've seen earlier in the card a number of wrestlers with stalled pushes who came in hot. Nakamura's in a precarious position, just like Bray, Balor, Corbin, Miz, Ambrose, et. al. before him. Sure he can thrive in the midcard and make more money, but there's also a hope that he does more than that because we all know he is better than this B-show fuck finish bull. Nakamura losing on Summerslam is not like Cena getting pinned through nefarious means on TV. He needs insulating and protecting from these nickel and dime dimbulb heel cheat bollocks. He needs to not have to make a WWE Champion get his finisher right by feeding him the arm because he's too thick to remember to go under the arm. This is - potentially - a Rusev situation, a Ryback situation, a Cesaro situation. A guy with a big upside if the downsides are downplayed. This could be a mishandling at a time when there are a lot of eyeballs and extra coverage, coverage that will tail off during the 'chase' period of this angle that may or may not culminate in his eventual win. That he gets put in there with someone who can not never no way no how have even anything close to a good, let alone great, match (part of the reason Nakamura was signed, face it) and then goes under to one finisher after taking much of the match? That's not good.

the bout the Twittersmarks wanted in front of a record* Tokyo Dome crowd of 4500

Bryan was talking on Twitter not too long ago about getting deep into RINGS tapes. Working a match that is basically an exaggerated rolling session with a talented opponent, with a couple of bumps for the big nights, I think it could work for him and in the modern landscape he'd have a good range of opponents. He also doesn't need to work a full schedule to get paid; if his name appears on a New Japan card then expect Reddit/squaredcircle to break for people posting HOW DO I SIGN UP TO NJPW WORLD

just watched the top 2 matches. Jinder vs. Nakamura was just...terrible. The main was quite good and I am heartened to see just big guys doing basic spots be over as FUCK, when did that happen? And they (the workers and the production) definitely told an interweaving story up well, planting the Brock/Braun seeds. But it didn't really strike me as above the ordinary chaos of a multi-man/jr tag style match. I liked it but didn't rise above Asuka/Ember for me, let alone hit any kind of standard for MOTY of WWE or wrestling as a whole.

full cards! great naming NJPW, putting the DESTRUCTION PPVs in a nuclear zone, an atomic bomb site, and a famous 90s earthquake zone. anyway! with thanks to purolove.com NJPW "DESTRUCTION IN FUKUSHIMA", 10.09.2017 Fukushima Azuma General Gymnasium 1. Yuji Nagata & Hirai Kawato vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Shota Umino 2. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura 3. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens vs. Beretta & Jado 4. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet vs. Takashi Iizuka, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku 5. IWGP Tag Team Title, 3 Way Match: Raymond Rowe & Hanso (c) vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa 6. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay 7. Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi 8. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title: "King of Darkness" EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Rocky Romero 9. NEVER Openweight Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Michael Elgin NJPW "DESTRUCTION IN HIROSHIMA", 16.09.2017 Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall 1. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado 2. Roppongi Vice Final Match: Rocky Romero & Beretta vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens 3. Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin & Kota Ibushi vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku 4. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet (c) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi 5. IWGP Tag Team Title, 3 Way Match: Raymond Rowe & Hanso (c) vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa 6. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay 7. Tetsuya Naito, "King of Darkness" EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Will Ospreay & Gedo 8. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: KUSHIDA (c) vs. El Desperado 9. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. NJPW "DESTRUCTION IN KOBE", 24.09.2017 Kobe Wold Hall 1. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino 2. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku 3. Togi Makabe & David Finlay vs. Michael Elgin & Katsuya Kitamura 4. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Beretta vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens 5. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryuske Taguchi & Ricochet vs. Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi 6. IWGP Tag Team Title, 3 Way Match: Raymond Rowe & Hanso (c) vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa 7. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Rocky Romero vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI 8. Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. "King of Darkness" EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi 9. IWGP US Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Juice Robinson There are a number of Road to shows, here are the highlights... two Korakuens pre-Fukushima, main evented first by... Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Will Ospreay & Rocky Romero vs. Tetsuya Naito, "King of Darkness" EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi ...and secondly Elimination Match: Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi

so, I can't help feeling that EVIL's spot is what Shibata would have been doing had he not mightily self-owned - a win in the G1 and a rubber match here. But EVIL has shown glimpses of a future at the top of the card so I'm really pleased for him. Naito-Ishii also easy to call but should be a great top card.

two matches announced thus far, thanks to purolove.com NJPW "KING OF PRO-WRESTLING", 09.10.2017 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) -. Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii -. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. "King of Darkness" EVIL

this looks like a decent upcoming card. worth watching for the headline (presume Miyahara is getting the belt back?) but I guess Kojima is on there to beat Suwama and challenge for the title to give a credible first defence? I like it! Plus STRONG BJ!

I think I judge on the same scale. I mean I don't have an actual scale. I just know what I feel about stuff. And because wrestling is actually bound up with complex emotions and shared by young men, I tend to award a score rather than unpack those complex emotions at length. I digress. Dave seems to think that wrestling only gets better. That wrestling now is incredible and that Flair/Steamboat is only 5/6 stars for its time. His line of argument regarding match quality seems to divest his enjoyment of the story and take the work in isolation. I'd be interested to see what he'd give Flair/Steamboat now. I personally disagree with Dave there (not with that specific trilogy, just the idea: I only saw the one of the Flair/Steamboat matches anyway). It's ahistorical too, given the relative scarcity of 5* Dave matches between 1997-2011. Most of my favourite matches, in my opinion, just hold the fuck up against - and surpass - stuff in the G1. But that''s because the stories count and matches are hardly ever top-shelf on work alone. And I think Dave knows this in his heart too. He fuckin' LOVES Flair. God that obituary is going to be a tearjerker. Anyway, I don't think wrestling just gets better. Nor do I think it has peaked, or bottomed out. Perhaps what one can physically do becomes more outlandish, or maybe you could have a situation in a stadium where two workers are more over than anyone ever. But wrestling is not merely physical feats or $ gates or decibels. And I don't think 'storytelling' just gets better: it changes to reflect its era. There are no new stories. It would be weird to think that the novel just gets better, or that music just gets better. What changes is you and what you want out of things. And I think that that which remains constant is actually the stuff that you truly love. Which sort of argues that you can't give a match or an album or a book a top rating until some time has passed...which is probably not a bad thing to suggest, as you can get past hype and trends and look into your heart. Here is a list I found in an email I wrote in 2013. Masakatsu Funaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano, UWF Fighting Star Hakata, 1989 Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, AJPW Super Power Series Day 19, 1990 Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen, AJPW Summer Action Series Day 22, 1993 Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, WWE Wrestlemania X, 1994 Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, WWE Wrestlemania X, 1994 El Hijo del Santo and Octagon vs. Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr, AAA When Worlds Collide, 1994. Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota, AJW G*Top 2nd, 1995 Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera, ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash, 1996 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, WWE Wrestlemania 13, 1997 Mankind vs. The Undertaker, WWE King of the Ring, 1998 Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, NOAH Navigate For Evolution Day 9, 2003. Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi, Dragon Gate USA Open The Untouchable Gate, 2009. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki, NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2012 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, NJPW Invasion Attack, 2013 Now I've seen a lot more wrestling since, so there's way more matches from before, during, and after this time frame that I'd award my top rating to. I note that a lot of these 5* matches coincide with "when I was watching closely", so there's that sense of nostalgia bound up in it. But it's impossible really to say what makes something a personal favourite other than at the end you have that feeling that it definitely is, that is all that matters. When I see these matches again I am always like "yup, classic" after my heart stops racing. I'm looking at the matches in this 4 year old email and I would downgrade maybe one of them like a whole quarter star? But look at this. The work in Mankind-Taker is, technically, the shits. There have been better backyard matches from a work perspective. Part of Misawa-Tsuruta is knowing the backstory with Baba at the merch table, same with Hart-Austin and the perfectly executed double turn. But I can't forget that sort of stuff so these matches won't diminish in my mind. tl;dr I think Dave needs to have a word with himself about scores and scales. not necessarily the upper bounds, but perhaps writing a lengthy Bill James-esque justification of his approach and methodology that puts his judgment in context.

that must really rub Vince up two ways. "goddamn mainstream eyeballs on the sumbitch" says Doc Hendrix to VKM, looking at a text from Linda bemoaning that fake news are covering their champ.

A quick look at AJPW's summer tour they did two nights in Sapporo and one night at the end in Asahikawa. Outside of the big two cities on this schedule I ain't heard of any of these places before, and I scour maps and Japanese wrestling tour schedules more than at a guess 99.9% of people (in the world, maybe not here). they kicked off with Ishikawa-Lee for the Triple Crown followed supported by Suwama-Miyahara, a Big Guns title defence and what the fuck Osamu Nishimura has a title in 2017 I need to watch this shit. 1300+ in Korakuen. Not bad. 355 show up the next night for a house show in a small town though you do get Strong BJ and Tetsuya Endo making an appearance. Guessing it was near enough to Tokyo to do a quick payday. Onto Hokkaido for a house show in Hakodate headlined with a Jr title defence between the divisive Hikaru Sato (some say boring, some say great) and Yohei Nakajima (the former Menso-re Oyaji, probably then my least favourite gimmick ever). 460 in. Pair of house shows draw either side of 500 in Sapporo. Highlight seems to be having Zeus crush Sato, but then have Sato pin Fuchi - who is a heavyweight, despite being 429 years old. 700 in the next night in Obihiro! Headlined by an All Asia tag title match pitting Onita and Fuchi (World's Oldest Tag Team) against Sato and Atsushi Aoki (Jr Grapplerz). Nakajima went 18 mins in his title shot loss three nights ago. He's losing in 4 mins to Minoru Tanaka here. Only 283 see the house show in Nemuro. That said it's a small place and the show had a Yutaka Yoshie main. And I've been to smaller shows that ruled and bigger shows that sucked. 500 in the next night in Kushiro. Akiyama books himself in the semi, defending the GAORA belt. Solid 620 the next night in Bihoro for a card filled with tags. 670 in Monbetsu for a tag title defence with the Big Guns and Akiyama/Omori. Not bad! I can't believe Fuchi works every frigging night. 363 in Nayoro for a total house show. Last show had 409 in Asahikawa for a show with another jr title defence (Sato vs. Iwamoto) and the quite awesome-sounding singles match of Ultimo Dragon and Masa Fuchi. I'm just wittering here but this seems pretty encouraging, right? That All Japan can pull an average of about 550-600 in these random-ass towns, possibly through novelty, while some of their recent direct rivals struggle to crack that in Tokyo (admittedly a town not short of wrestling). their next tour seemed a bit quieter, whilst the current one (may have finished) seems to be on this kind of level - focused, tight, hitting small towns, pulling 400-600, moving on. At an estimate AJPW has hit 60 different towns in 2017, so they're true to their name!

UNSCIENTIFIC AUDIENCE WATCH FOR JAPAN'S SMALLER PROMOTIONS NOAH does like 900 at Korakuen these days, 500-600 at the EDION#2 in Osaka. They're basically Zero1/FREEDOMS level right now. Depressing. Zero1 have stopped releasing paid numbers. Not watched them since Fire Festival 2014 (which was very good). Onita seems to be the top card for them right now. Wrestle-1 does 700 at Korakuen. I'm sure they have good workers but if that promotion was a dog it'd be shot. I tried to get in on the ground floor back in 2013 but it was just mediocre. When they broke up Kondo/Kaz there was nothing left for me. Dragon Gate have apparently seen a dip but they're still able to sell out Korakuen for their regular shows. Big Japan got 3100 to Sumo Hall for their big show and seem to waver between 900 and 1200 for Korakuen. Not bad I suppose! I don't think their Strong division is as compelling as people think it is, but they do put on entertaining shows all the same. DDT run so many shows and sub-shows that it's hard to get a handle on. They've got a Sumo Hall coming up headlined by Takeshita and Endo with an undercard that seems relatively spartan in terms of interest. Korakuens of late have done 1200 and 1300 for King of DDT final. That seems down on the past, but no Kenny or Kota. They also ran for like 5 days straight at Shinkiba First and did solid houses for every show. Kodaka's sub--promotion BASARA is doing fine in the smaller Tokyo dives. All Japan did 1500 at Korakuen last month for a Triple Crown match, and 1300 the month before for Ishikawa/Jake Lee. They're NOAH level in Osaka. They've also been really hammering away at some of the more out-of-the-way places in Hokkaido (presumably holiday resorts?) that New Japan haven't touched in years. Akiyama deserves a medal for the hard work he's put in since that idiot Shiraishi stepped aside. I'd love them to regain their place as the comfortable #2. Their prelim guys are coming through nicely and despite all the hardships they book the TC like a meaningful strap. I worry about a dip once Akiyama/Omori/Suwama retire though. Occasional companies still have some pull; Sayama's Real Japan got 1500 in Korakuen for a Masakatsu Funaki-Otani headline. Kobashi's Fortune Dream is always good to watch and they sell out the place. HEAT-UP did nearly 1000 for a big show at Korakuen, as did Stardom (running without Shirais). NEW was doing 1000 at Korakuen and 500 in smaller places before folding. Inoki-ISM sold Korakuen out.

with regular TV you could slow it down, less body pressure, do it between WM and SS to really give some meaning and renewal to what has often been a trudge of a period.

He definitely likes New Japan more in the same way that he clearly though AJW and AJPW were redefining wrestling in the late 80s/early 90s. I don't see this as a failing on his part, nor did I think any differently of him when he was hot for Ring of Honor when I thought it was just a solid indy, nor when he would give top quality RINGS matches like **1/4 because he just fundamentally did not get or like the style. The thing that slightly annoys me - and I love Dave and think star rating is like way down on the list of reasons why I like him - is when he does that slightly trolling Twitter language in WON. It's alright to burn those losers who still think that his job is to rate matches and report scoopz on Twitter because they're clearly not readers. But in WON I'd like to see him write things like that with a lot more clarity. Dave often reports the story. But in recent times he has become the story. So the question of scales and ceilings is one that is bugging a lot of people. Not me, particuarly, he can rate NJPW prelims 23 stars and WWE main events DUD for all I care. What I take him to mean is that WWE's matches, with their seeming inability to book long-term with their full-time roster, the restrictions on what guys can do, and the particular Kevin Dunn presentation style, have a ceiling that NJPW - with its great long-term booking, classic presentation style, and lack of restrictions - just does not have. Both he and I agree that WWE's roster is incredible. With AJ, Joe, Brock, KO, Bryan (yes), Sami, Roman, Cena, Rollins, KENTA, Nakamura, Gargano, Balor, Rusev, Cesaro, Neville, Harper, Gable, The Miz, and Matt Hardy you could have a tournament that put the G1 Climax to shame in terms of star power and equal it in terms of general match quality, variety, etc. And sure, tournament wrestling is more of a Japanese thing, but it's an example of how WWE won't push match quality or complex booking under the current regime. That's fine, some will say. Vince makes money and enjoys a comfortable first place even in Japan. But I know it'll gnaw at people inside the company that the critics don't love them. Maybe Dave's prodding will push WWE to make their matches better. It is within their grasp. I hate not being a WWE fan. My life would be so much easier if I enjoyed watching it.

I quite liked Takao Omori's shot at the Triple Crown from...January...against Miyahara. I am an Omori mark though, his ten mins on the Triple Crown had me in tears. Underrated talent imo, held down in his prime.

apparently that Cage-Nakajima match was given 4.75 by DAVE, no less. agree that NOAH is spotty from 2005. Suzuki's title reign started with loads of SZKG bullshit but the last three matches - against Takayama, Sugiura, and Marufuji - were great.

I'm no fan of Strowman but he is a lot better than Corbin. The latter will have a podcast slamming the biz within a year.

the DAVEs are in for the last few days of the G1 at Sumo Hall Day 17 - Nagata-Fale - 4.25 / YOSHI-HASHI-Makabe - 3.5 / Ishii-Sabre Jr. - 4.25 / Ibushi-Goto - 4.25 / Tanahashi-Naito - 5 Day 18 - Juice-Elgin - 3.75 / SANADA-Tonga - 3.75 / Yano-Suzuki - 3 / EVIL-Kojima - 4 / Omega-Okada - 6 Day 19 / FINAL The Young Bucks-Taguchi Japan - 4.25 / War Machine-Bullet Club - 3.75 / Omega-Naito - 5.75 I think he's sincere about all this stuff so not going to accuse him of trolling at all - he genuinely thinks Omega-Okada is scale-busting work of the best trilogy ever. I'm always going to prefer the methodical, psychological - perhaps uncool? - style of Tanahashi to the wild-eyed MOVEZbeast of Omega, so I prefer the Tana-Naito trilogy more. But my main takeaway is that this is an era that will be looked back on like AJPW in the 90s and we're experiencing it LIVE.

please stop having Nakamura cut in-ring promos for the love of god

just watched Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs. Brian Cage for the GHC in front of a half-full Korakuen. pretty good match to be honest. shame NOAH has had more reboots than the Spiderman franchise, no one knows whether it's Arthur or Martha anymore.