Beech27

I could see that, except he's been tweeting about Kota copying his knee strike since the G1 started, and responding to fans suggesting a connection. Maybe it'll never be booked in New Japan, but his social media seems dedicated to the "feud". Dude is still liking Golden Lovers fan art in 2017. Speaking of Twitter... Not sure I buy it, but this is probably as close as we're getting to an official statement.

This is a generalization too often invoked, but I think it's an mma influence thing. (Obviously the intersections of mma and pro wrestling have always been murkier in Japan. But.) Even casual fans are comfortable with the idea that submissions don't need to be set up, per se. You take what's available, and if you're clean, they tap.

So, I didn't stick around for Omega's backstage comments when I first watched the match. He basically uses them as a verbal subtweet of Ibushi, insisting his knee strikes are the best, the original (somehow?), etc. If that's the story you want to tell, it's yet another reason he should have just pinned Evil in the corner. Win with the knee, and avoid deadlifting a non compliant man onto your shoulders. Obviously wrestling is dangerous, and an athletic "main event" style is more so. But you'd expect better judgment, once an accident has happened, from a veteran who always insists he cares a great deal about safety, and values storytelling more than any of the athletic stunts. (Whether you believe this or not... depends.) The consensus from "news" people does seem to be that Evil is ok, though who knows what that means, and if they're just parroting Meltzer. I hope he's better off than I could guess, since New Japan is still sending out tweets advertising his match against Okada. Doesn't look like he's going to miss time.

That's a good point. Evil certainly didn't look okay. Nevermind that "okay" could mean a thousand things, many of which a normal person might regard as injured. Japanese twitter looks like fan speculation only, for now.

Dave was asked how Evil is doing; this is good news, I suppose, though you have to wonder how bad he was hurt before...

I can't imagine Evil wasn't out on his feet--or rather, out on his back, then pulled to his feet, hit a few more times, then allowed to stay down. I liked the match a lot (until the obvious), plunder and all, and thought Evil acquitted himself really well in a very effects heavy main event... but it's really hard to overlook that finish, which was at best uncomfortable, and probably outright dangerous. Accidents happen, of course, but I wish Omega had simply pulled his arm from under the rope when the ref refused to count, and pinned him. That didn't happen, though, so now I'll just hope Evil's as ok as possible, and if he's suffered the magnitude of concussion that seems likely, I'll hope he isn't just sent back out there.

I really, really want to see a face-off (heel-off?) with Elias at Summerslam.

Not hard to read their lips here

Backdrop drivers were always more King's Road than Strong Style, but I guess Cena hasn't seen that bump before.

Fwiw, Makabe tore his Achilles in 2005, and it's been variously treated as a weakness throughout his career. I suspect that's why they went with the heel hook finish, even without previous work done on the ankle.

Since this thread has hosted previous "future of the Bullet Club" discussion and speculation, I figured I'd drop this here. It's not really a spoiler, but I have free time today and my mind is wandering, so I'm gonna connect a couple dots:

Felt like the show had some work to do, in order to overcome my (sorta unfair) assumptions that certain matches basically had to go a certain way to keep the block interesting. It accomplished that; I was roped in to everything save Yoshihashi/Fale, neither of whom I care that much about. I'm even willing to talk myself into Ibushi's (relative lack of) knee-selling: a match he needs to win, against a big opponent he's never defeated, in his home town, etc. And once you're one move away from getting that win, you do what you have to, whether it hurts or not. He's never had good self preservation instincts anyway.

I think my favorite thing about this is that Suzuki's content to do all manner of heel shit once the bell rings--he couldn't care less if he doesn't get a single cheer--but you better still clap along to his entrance and belt out kaze ni nare. Think of him what you want, but you will respect his music. (This strikes me as an entirely reasonable demand, fwiw.)

He certainly hasn't had, to use his own words, a G1 worth of best bout performances. He does still have Evil and Juice, though, who have been very good, plus Okada, and maybe someone in the finals. So I think it's reasonable to expect his best is to come. Even still, I think he's got the best matches of the tournament from Suzuki, Yano, Tama, and Elgin. (Juice and Okada were both better against Kojima.)

Daily positivity with Kojima

Stayed up for this one, so here are some sleep deprived thoughts. -Minoru Suzuki loves being Minoru Suzuki so much, and given his opponent, I was pretty happy with a wild brawl, ending with a chairshot punctuating his music on the way out. -Elgin losing does point to Omega/Okada deciding the block, which probably shouldn't be a surprise. I wonder if Okada might go in unblemished, so Omega knows a draw won't do it? -Omega saw Okada heeling on Kojima, and I guess decided to take it a step further: total disregard. A heel requires a counterpart, a hero to oppose the villain. And he didn't see Kojima as a worthy hero any longer, so comedy tag Kenny showed up. Of course that didn't work, but then he made another mistake, going to the OWA too quick. The second it became a real match, basically, he panicked and tried to end it without doing enough work. Ultimately, though, he can now kick out of Kojima's best stuff, and the V-Trigger is too fast, sudden, and powerful for Kojima to handle. -Okada/Juice was a great story to tell right after, insofar as Okada seemed dead set on a relatively workmanlike, methodical approach. No real heeling at first, just do the work. Juice, though, always fires up, and Okada couldn't help but egg him on. A mistake, as it turned out. Not a fatal one however, because Okada's been in these deep waters before; when the counters start flying, he knows how to put anyone down eventually. But while Juice gave everything, he didn't hit everything; his finisher is an unanswered question for now. That, I think, was a great display of complimentary narratives. Two main eventers took on opponents below their level, and won. But those oponnents are headed two opposite directions: Kojima simply doesn't have enough to win at that level any longer. He faced an opponent who didn't take him seriously, and made mistakes; he hit everything; it didn't work. Juice, though, is ascendant, and simply doesn't have enough yet.

Omega's gonna have to defend the US title against Elgin at one of the bigger shows, you figure, so that's one big singles date taken. Plus, he said on a recent podcast (squared circle pit on metal injection... which is a thing, I guess) he flatly wouldn't wrestle Ibushi anywhere but the dome, if they don't meet in the finals. I mean, shoots are never totally shoots, but. Ibushi does look out of it, though. I think Naito still looks most likely to advance, given he can still put losses on Goto and Tanahashi. And while I try not to watch wrestling this way, it's just hard to see Ishii, Goto, or Tanahashi (now) headlining the biggest show of the year. Naito/Okada, closing the show this time, I can picture. Omega obviously fits also, if someone from the other block is to win. Whether he wins the G1 then drops the belt, or just keeps it until then (or wins and keeps it?) it's hard to imagine Okada not being there. So you could put anyone opposite them in the G1 finals, if they're winning anyway. I'm getting WAY ahead of myself though.

The most noteworthy recent example of WWE guys being deceptively massive: Swagger vs (big, but not so tall) Mike

I'm gonna be stubbornly naïve and hope Omega's a lifer, but his contract is supposedly up in Jan of 2019, yeah. The issue, though, is they're teasing a BC split now, and have sorta written themselves into a tough spot, since part of Tama's gripe seems to be that Omega wasn't an original member. Not that narrative cohesion always matters a ton, but it does mean a current or returning member makes more sense than an outsider. I think it's unlikely Bálor comes back, but WWE doesn't seem too invested in Karl Anderson. So, that's a guy. It is also possible the tease is never triggered, and they all turn as Omega does, sorta like Chaos did. They could just disband. They could hire Rusev, transition to an eastern euro mob gimmick, and sell track suits at Hot Topic. Sombra coming to kill his bastard Japanese faction seems a long shot, but it would be awesome. Kojima could set off a Bread Club takeover. Lots of options...

I didn't articulate it that clearly, but yeah, my meaning was that Omega will take any bomb you feel like throwing, not necessarily that it will all be rushed. From a Watsonian perspective, it does work best when you have to work for them, which Elgin did in this match. I'm actually a little more excited for Omega's next match, though, against Kojima. And it might explain why he was willing to bump like he did for Elgin, since his previous match was against Yano, and while Kojima might chop him purple, it probably won't be as spot-heavy.

Related, if anyone missed it at the time: Remembering 'Macho Man' Randy Savage's forgotten baseball career

This board, in a previous incarnation, used to do a top puro matches of the year poll. I don't think those threads survive, but I managed to find the top ten from these years. None of this is recent per se, but would fill the gap a little bit. If you're interested in New Japan specifically, I think it's a good idea to follow the trajectory of a few important wrestlers in something like chronological order. At least that's what I've always found most compelling to me, since it keeps intact some bit of the narrative that was present at the time. For example, I don't know that Okada/Omega is as great without the context of their careers. Honestly, I really like getting on wikipedia, reading about the big moments in a guy's career, then watching them in order. That is, find what you can of Tanahashi as he ascends to the true ace of the company, Nakamura becoming Nakamura, Naito both before and after he became ungovernable, the (relative) failures of Goto and Shibata, Ishii going from just a guy to a popular top of the card staple, Omega's transformation from junior to heavyweight to tip-top gaijin, and of course Okada. I think last year's G1 is the most recent place to start that provides decent history. From a story perspective, it's important to watch Okada/Tanahashi, Omega/Naito, then Omega/Goto. Then, watch Shibata/Goto from the dome, Tanahashi/Naito, and Omega/Okada 1. Moving forward, watch Naito/Elgin, Naito/Juice, Naito/Tanahashi; Omega/Ishii from the New Japan Cup, Dontaku, and then the US title final; Okada/Suzuki, Okada/Shibata, Okada/Omega 2. There are more good matches over the years than I could list--and even great and important matches from before the G1 during 2016--but, off the top of my head, that should be enough to get you acquainted with the present main event scene, if that's the goal.

Yeah, Elgin's got a lot of bombs, and he's gonna throw them. (Every time.) Omega's not the type to pull anyone back, of course. It's a spectacle for sure, but they're awfully good at it. And while it's not my absolute favorite thing, I don't mind overkill so much when it... y'know... actually kills. Plus, as Omega further encroaches on/is solidified as an absolute main event ace type talent--one half anime villain, one half actual terminator--it's going to take a ton to keep him down. That's as it should be. So, when you need to kill a nearly unkillable main eventer who won't stop spamming you with his signature strike... well, there's a bomb for just that.

Gotta be there for the greatest night in the history of our sport.