sevendaughters

just watched Nakamura-Cena (I don't really watch WWE these days unless it penetrates my bubble) and thought it a fine little TV match and a strong put-over for Nakamura. while the Backdrop Driver was a botch by Cena it actually made both guys look good. can't comment on how Nakamura's being used, suffice to say that he still looks deeply unusual in this arena. but people seem to be digging it. hope has not died. i forgot how completely asinine and intolerable WWE commentary is though. all the stupid names for things: "Big Match John", "The Franchise", "The Rockstar", "The Modern Day Maharaj". the cutting away to Jinder and crowd reacts was annoying too.

yes. Krone Metzler.

the DAVEs are in for days 7-11 7.26 Sendai Ishii vs YOSHI-HASHI: 3.75 / ZSJ vs Fale: 2.50 / Makabe vs Ibushi: 4.00 / Naito vs Nagata: 4.00 / Tanahashi vs Goto: 3.25 7.27 Niigata Tama Tonga vs Juice: 2.75 / SANADA vs Yano: 3.00 / EVIL vs Suzuki: 3.50 / Okada vs Kojima: 4.25 / Elgin vs Omega:4.75 7.29 Aichi Makabe vs Nagata: 3.50 / Fale vs Ibushi: 3.50 / Sabre Jr. vs Goto: 3.50 / Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI: 3.75 / Ishii vs Naito: 4.50 7.30 Gifu EVIL vs Yano: 0.5 / Suzuki vs Tama Tonga: 3.5 / SANADA vs Elgin: 4.00 / Omega vs Kojima: 3.50 / Okada vs Juice: 3.50 8.1 Kagoshima YOSHI-HASHI vs Fale: 3.00 / Sabre Jr vs Makabe: 2.75 / Ishii vs Nagata: 4.50 / Naito vs Goto: 4.00 / Tanahashi vs Ibushi: 4.75 got to give the guy credit for absolutely loving the fuck out of the business after all these years.

wishful thinking there my friend

I think Goto's character is 'stoic', which has particular cultural resonances in Japan that might not come across super well to others. He is, in a sense, the vision of the good traditional Japanese warrior man of yore. This remains an important part of sumo and combat culture. Of course, particularly among the youth, things are changing which explains the uptake of flashy characters like Tanahashi and Okada. And sure this isn't reason enough to start liking him if you didn't already. But I think generic is unfair. AJ Styles doesn't crib the moves of generic workers. In search of a more compelling gimmick, maybe? Naito as a babyface didn't exactly light my fire.

yeah I mean I don't think Kenny is unsafe or terrible but I stand by my mark because it was so uncomfortable in the post-Honma/Shibata world to the extent that any investment in the match (which I didn't really enjoy outside of the stunts, but whatever) was exploded. what that clip also misses is how absolutely fucked Watanabe looked on the floor as he was crawling to the corner. real shooters get better treatment after being laid out.

sort of speaks to how much power Cena has if Nakamura, who has stiffed and wrecked enough guys in his time (like SAKU!), feels the need to apologise up front on camera rather than in the backstage area.

insta-reaction to day 12 from Fukuoka SANADA-Juice a solid traditional wrestling match with selling and facials and a clear heel/face dynamic that won't set the world alight but was good. ***1/2 Yano-Elgin think Big Mike wanted none of this and though the finish makes sense for the match it makes a lot of the tournament look stupid. *1/2 Kojima-Suzuki another stupid listless brawl with interference. you'd think with the history between the two and Kojima probably working his last G1 they might make this more of a traditional match. but no. 3/4* Okada-Tonga Okada did a good job of letting Tonga seem like he might pull off the upset in this house show semi-final style bout. **3/4 EVIL-Omega this will probably be talked about by quite a lot of people because of a couple of completely dumb moments. first EVIL hits uranage on Omega from apron to a table that is part damaged and has a frayed surface, leading EVIL to nearly lose an eye. he bleeds and looks like he's doing alright. then something knocks him silly in the last minute or so and is clearly trying to crawl to a corner to die in peace and get a referee stop. Kenny comes in and carries right on, picking up a non-cooperative EVIL and getting his shit - some knees and the One-Winged Angel - in before the win. I'm sure some people who have worked more professional matches than me (2) will tell me that this was ok or maybe even part of the finish but it felt uncomfortable and wrong and I wasn't into all the table stuff on a weekday show like this to begin with. It makes Kenny look unsafe and inconsiderate in his mania to go MOTY candidate. Sometimes you just got to tell the story. DUD

instant day 11 from Kagoshima reaction missed most of Fale-YOSHIHASHI as I decided to nip out and get some lunch to eat in front of screen. last I saw was Tacos getting launched through the seats. watched Makabe-ZSJr with the sound on mute (can't eat with headphones on) but it seemed like their styles meshed really well. Makabe has been completely fine this tournament - in the bottom half work-wise, but that's no shame in this company. Sabre reminds me of Punk - not just because they're skinny, obv - but because I think they do know how to intelligently work bigger men/brawlers. Which you should if your gimmick is that you're smarter and more technically able. *** Ishii-Nagata is going on my watch-again-to-determine-best-of-G1 pile. This was great. Two of my favourites just crashing away. It was the match you expect (strikes, suplexes, that selling that people call no-selling but isn't) but with lots of naked emotion and smart moments that I bought into. Maybe not quite as good as the 10-car pile up that their 2014 G1 match was, but that was the last night of the tournament so they left it all out there. they at least held enough back to get to the ring for their next tournament matches. ****1/2 Naito-Goto my gf popped up on WhatsApp to pepper me with questions so I caught this with one eye but it seemed to be pretty good - carving a space between the previous bout and the coming attraction. Naito is getting to that stage where he can barely miss with his matches. Goto is Goto and you either enjoy that or you don't. I do. ***1/2 one of the great treats in wrestling is heel Tanahashi and he was out in force against Ibushi in the Golden Star's hometown. they brought it up to pace slower than the matches before them, but they had that luxury with the crowd firmly ready to hate Tana and cheer Ibushi through every spot. once they got going this was very much the standard you expect. some really good stuff in this, the spots that Ibushi saves for his big performances. the ending was very interesting to me too. no spoilers though. ****1/4 good day then. Ishii-Nagata MOTN. didn't catch up with the two matches I missed on day 10 yet. not sure I need to rush.

I love Suzuki and of the 20 guys in the field he's probably in my top...2? I'm doing a little blog project going through all of UWF 2 and he's just turned up with Funaki and it's brilliant. The range in his work from in-a-bubble shoot-style 20 minuters to actual shoots to comedy matches to pretty much any style you can think of is not matched by many. His 2012 match with Tanahashi is in my lifetime top 20. And I totally dig that a 49 year old should protect their body and not try for MOTY every night. I just hate the interference and think that this particular kind of brawling is not his strong point. Surely doing a load of stretches and then taking a few comeback bumps has got to be better for a person than getting hurled through some chairs. The Kenny match didn't work me but I don't blame that on Suzuki. He's got Okada in Suzuki's home town (they did this in 2014 and it was great) plus Kojima and Elgin so I do think he has the chance to pull it back. People always remember stronger finishers too. Remember thinking Kenny didn't do that much last year then his last 2-3 matches were all bonkers and great. Just talking here, talking, talking...

just watched the first three tournament matches from Day 10, feeling a bit tired and sun-boiled from a long ramble Yano-EVIL didn't go long and featured like 1 move and some shenanigans 1/2* Suzuki-Tonga just a long dumb listless brawl that I hated. Suzuki LVP for this G1 so far. DUD SANADA-Elgin roped me in eventually though the 'invite them back into ring' spot early in the match was a bit of a chore. when they started busting the movez out I was back in the room. ***1/2 hope the last two matches pull it back. will watch tomorrow night.

He was in the Inoki thing that just closed. He was working the yakuzaish asshole gimmick to the hilt. Took over the IGF office. Would work matches in a suit and batter the young boys. He is still as great as when I last saw him regularly in Big Mouth Loud.

in spoiler tags for people who haven't seen today or the G1 USA specials

They're not really preludes and I found the show titles to be strange in retrospect. However there's a wealth of good stuff across the two nights. Kenny was in his element in front of his hardcore fans and Ishii really announced himself to the US market. There are ROH guys in there and CMLL guys too but I quite liked the mixture. Harsh on Goto upthread. What can he do with the hand he's been dealt? He's shown plenty of fire down the years but the company has never bought his reigns on the tags, the NEVER, or the IC. A tag team with Ishii would be something I'd like to see though. Would save Ishii's body from completely melting down.

Day 9 live from Aichi! Makabe-Nagata continues the great run of grumpy brilliance from Nagata, he got even more irate and fiery here, Makabe held his end up well. **** Ibushi-Fale had shades of ECW in and around a good big-man/little-crazy-man dynamic. Fale was good, Ibushi great. ***3/4 Goto-Sabre was a good mesh of styles that didn't try and burn the house down but I liked it just fine. ***1/2 Tanahashi-YOSHIHASHI picked up steam near the end, Tanahashi acted as if Tacos wasn't in his league, which fed a cool dynamic of the lil guy trying to prove himself against the 1/100 Ace. ***1/4 Naito-Ishii was great, these two just deliver every single time, some new stuff that builds on their established patterns, a must-see ****1/2 good crowd for this one enhanced the whole thing.

lol nearly, it was a sumo who got bounced out of the biz for smoking weed.

treasured Twitter user Mr Lariattoooo has compiled this spreadsheet too https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsZCBTpKjHzdbCpKZ1No1KAdpmOd2OcgSMfC1-oa7pI/edit#gid=0

before I get into DAY 8 I notice that DAVE has weighed in on days 2-6 7.20 Korakuen Juice vs Kojima: 3.5 / Tama Tonga vs Elgin: 3.25 / SANADA vs Evil: 4.0 / Okada vs Yano: 3.25 / Suzuki vs Omega: 4.75 7.21 Korakuen Goto vs Nagata: 4.5 / Ishii vs Makabe: 4.5 / Ibushi vs Sabre Jr: 4.5 / Fale vs Tanahashi: 3.5 /Naito vs YOSHI-HASHI: 4.25 7.22 Korakuen Yano vs Kojima: 1.5 / EVIL vs Juice: 4.0 / Suzuki vs SANADA: 3.75 / Omega vs Tama Tonga: 3.5 / Okada vs Elgin: 4.75 7.23 Machida City Gymnasium Sabre vs YOSHI-HASHI: 3.5 / Nagata vs Tanahashi: 4.5 / Fale vs Naito: 2.5 / Ishii vs Ibushi: 4.5 / Goto vs Makabe: 4.0 7.25 Big Palette Fukushima Elgin vs Kojima: 3.75 / EVIL vs Tama Tonga: 2.75 / Suzuki vs Juice: 3.25 / Omega vs Yano: 1.0 / Okada vs SANADA: 4.25 few discrepancies for me, not that I'd harass him on Twitter or write a letter. can't see how Suzuki-Omega was that good. anyway great hot crowd in Nagaoka and a lovely building with a nice set-up with tiered seating that they don't often have in these big gyms. Tonga-Juice good little match here, Tama put together a really credible match working around Juice's continued leg issues. Juice sold great from entrance to exit. some nice details in this one and they kept it all in-ring. ***1/2 SANADA-Yano this flowed great, bits of misdirection with the water and the tape, great roll-ups and outsmarting from both, probably my favourite Yano outing of the G1 so far. ***1/2 Suzuki-EVIL think EVIL is gonna be great one day and working here basically as a babyface he looked at home. did the slightly lazy Suzukigun match layout with the arena floor brawl and the interference but everything else was good. ***1/4 Okada-Kojima Rainmaker worked as dominant dick heel to give Kojima some babyface shine, the crowd were hot for it too. Super solid with some good exchanges but maybe missing something. ***3/4 Kenny-Elgin they sure went straight for your MOTY list and I'd have to see this again. it was really good and dramatic, a clear best of the tournament for me, but perhaps - and I may be overcritical - they got greedy and overtold the story, like the modern action film that is unsure of itself so it keeps doing explosions and chases where dramaturgy would actually help. shades of AJPW in the 90s toward the very end. say no more. ****3/4

umm why are they reusing old footage and pretending it's new? will TNA ever stop TNAing? goddam it I *WANT* you to be good.

I liked Okada-SANADA but I think what you say is largely true. SANADA is definitely a couple of years off being a major player. But the report card on him looks pretty much exactly the same as when Okada himself emerged: good-looking natural athlete who isn't off-the-charts charismatic but has something that keeps you hooked, while yes, needing to learn how to string it all together night on night. But to say he's not quite Okada, someone who has nearly had a HOF career already? Well sure. Not many are. Okada has had nearly 5 years working at the top of the card in the best 'pro-wrestling' around while SANADA hasn't had that luxury yet. Right now he's a weird mish-mash of Muta and various tropes picked up in a lesser version of AJPW, a poor W-1 and TNA. Considering what he's been through I think it's a miracle he hasn't turfed out of the business. He's now in a good spot. They'll no doubt take their time with him because he's not one of their dojo boys, but at least he hasn't been disloyal in the past like Shibata. Once he loses the hair (it is daft) and eases into a gimmick that works I think he'll cream the domestic market.

they weren't great kicks but I thought it played nicely into the Tenryu/Kawada relationship what with Ishii doing Tenryu/Kawada's powerbomb pin. EDIT: for full transparency the ONLY wrestler I have ever had a photo with is Ishii.

sure Ishii has a standard match layout for less important occasions (which I think is terrific) but his match with Ibushi was really good. plus he's not been in with Tana or Naito, he's not had his big rematch with Sabre Jr., and he always has good matches with Nagata. I gave their 2014 G1 bout ****3/4. it was a war!

MB/K has worked - and failed to impress - in the four major promotions on the planet to date. next stop the Treasury.

Inoki (S) has shuttered/frozen the IGF sideproject NEW as the top draw has left. shame, as it started well and it was getting pretty good. Inoki (A) project ISM still going. am completely unsure whether the IGF being liquidated thing is a work or not.

another instant take on Day 7, feel free to tell me off if I'm posting too much for a newcomer. sound issues with the broadcast, commentary went wandering into pixellated mode and the crowd was clearly hot but mic'd poorly. this affects me as i love to hear the crowd as loud as possible. however still some good stuff! Ishii-YOSHIHASHI this got good when Tacos realised he had to get rude if he wanted to get anything but disdain out of the grumpy pitbull. nice use of a Kawada spot and a good contest that will be overlooked come tournament end but had me involved. ***1/2 Sabre Jr-Fale seen some raves about this and it is definitely a different vibe to anything gone before so I'll give it credit there - but my disbelief could not be upended. also his shoulder was up. ** Makabe-Ibushi don't know whether Ibushi is doing less mad stuff for the sake of the tournament or his health but it shows the quality of the man that I'm not missing it. brought the best out of Makabe as he always does and I thought the last few mins were good. ***3/4 Nagata-Naito a pleasure. pissed-off Nagata and cocky-provocateur Naito always a good mesh and two or three things here made me go woah. we all know he's great but i can't remember when Nagata was last this consistent. even in those tags with the big boy yung lions he's solid. **** Goto-Tanahashi only thing stopping Nagata from being G1 MVP right now is Tanahashi. it's in the established style of NJPW main events of the last 4 years but there's lots of great expressive drama and no overkill at all. Goto isn't just in there too but feels trite to say underrated. ****1/4